A collaborative project in Spain is developing a 3D-printing material based on recycled leather for us in the fashion, textile and footwear sectors.
Plastics technology specialists Aimplas, shoe manufactuer Pikolinos, polymer manufacturer Evatalking and the Footwear Technology Centre of La Rioja are working on the Ecofap project. The idea is for waste from the footwear industry to be recovered and reused for new products to reduce the industry’s environmental impact and carbon footprint.
Recovering scraps
The partnership is based in the Valencia region which produces 65% of the shoes in Spain, about 70 million pairs per year. It is estimated that the annual waste generated by footwear factories in leather scraps alone amounts to 3 500 tonnes. Footwear waste cannot easily be recycled and, if it is, the resulting recycled material is of low quality.
However, 3D printing is seen as one of the technologies with the greatest growth potential within the footwear industry, a market characterised by customisation.
Particle challenge
The challenge faced by the Ecofap consortium is to reduce the particle size of the scraps to 10 microns to allow for post-processing as a secondary raw material. The goal is to combine different percentages of small particle leather with polymers suitable for footwear for working with leather so they can be used as a filament for 3D printing.
The reduction of particle size to less than 10 microns is a demanding task due to the difficulty of crushing collagen, a material made up of elastic fibres.
The project is funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and Next Generation funds of the European Union.
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