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2 UPDATE OF THE PLAN FOR EXPLOITATION AND DISSEMINATION OF
RESULT ................................................................................................................................................ 43
3 UPDATE OF DATA MANAGEMENT PLAN .................................................................. 44
4 FOLLOW-UP ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND COMMENTS FROM
1 EXPLANATION OF THE WORK CARRIED OUT BY THE BENEFICIARIES AND OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRESS
This section provides a detailed presentation of each project objectives and its associated achievements
with a comprehensive summary of what has been accomplished during Period 1 of the project
(01/06/2019 to 30/11/2020).
The project work is progressing on schedule. All planned deliverables have been produced and all
respective milestones have been met.
1.1 Objectives
The overall aim of the project is to develop a method to remove undesirable substances
(fluorocarbons, melamine and acrylic resins, anti-mold agents) from waste of acrylic fabrics with
an environment friendly process to enhance their recycling, improve sustainability and reduce
environmental and health risk, as stated in Regulation (EC) No 1907/20061.
Therefore, the specific objectives of this proposal, to be reached within its 36 months duration, are:
• To remove those hazardous substances whose presence could adversely affect the quality of the secondary raw materials and prevent their recycling;
• To reach a removal rate of 90-95% of those substances;
• To treat up to 99% of all sewage impurities, obtained from removal steps, for safe utilisation
or disposal of these substances;
• To obtain a final textile product with yarn coming from 100% recycled fibre, mixing regenerated fibres from card, winding opened thread and waste material collected fibre, each up to 33%
• To re-use the acrylic textiles as raw material for other production cycles, also in combination with virgin fibres, to reach 30 % of waste prevented from disposal (3.600 tonnes total) for the outdoor sector (awnings and furnishing);
• To produce recommendations on production chain implementation (management and recovery of production scraps) and on design and manufacturing of materials to enhance
recyclability and recommendation for technology transfer (knowledge transfer to other products and applications) and for standards.
This aims to be beneficial and highly impactful for the whole environment and thereby improve quality
of life for all European citizens with overall resonance and high potential on a global scale.
Measurable output KPI Achieved
On time achievement of Objectives KPI 1.1 No delayed
First, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and modulated Differential Scanning Calorimetry
(mDSC) were used to determine the glass transition temperature of the raw substrate fibres (approximately 100ºC, or 85-90ºC when plasticised with 2-3 m% water). In total, 16 DSC experiments
and 10 mDSC experiments were carried out.
Next, the raw fabrics were chemically identified by way of Fourier-transformed Infrared Spectroscopy
by Attenuated Total Reflection (FTIR-ATR). Alongside information provided by Parà SPA, the fabric
was identified as a combination of 93% polyacrylonitrile and 7% polyvinyl acetate, and an infrared
spectrum of each chemical bond in this fabric was obtained; see Figure 1.2.1.1. Characterisation of the
fabric by Fourier-transformed Raman Spectroscopy was also attempted 12 times but yielded no usable
removal process – to have a mean linear density of 2.08 dtex, maximum force of 6.65 cN, tenacity of
3.21 cN/dtex, elongation at break of 25.4% and Young’s modulus (between 0% and 1% elongation) of
3.28 GPa.
At the same time, Near-Infrared Reflectance analysis (NIR) of acrylic fabric is used to create database
and identify the main categories of finishing, in order to fix the standard products and to evaluate their
presence and characteristics. NIR analysis is a fast and not destructive method that allows with the
implementation of chemometric approach the determination of effective material characteristics and
define evaluation parameters, such as kind of finishing and concentration. The goal is to implement in
the developed system a NIR automatic forecasting method and models to identify and subsequently
classify collected waste, in comparison with original textile, with an error lower than 25%. The database
created will allow for the identification of chemicals or other contaminants on treated fibres and chose,
for each waste, the best treatment developed for their removal. In this way, it could be possible to set
the more appropriate scouring treatment corresponding to the impurities on the acrylic surfaces.
Centrocot analysed 40 samples for each classification family resulting from quality control with NIR.
The data obtained were treated using chemometric models (statistical and mathematical methods)
developing different prediction models in order to obtain a recognition of the raw fabric and of the three
identified finishes. The best model led to a 100% validation not finding any fabric prediction errors.
The results of the work carried out are described in the deliverables D1.2 Classification system:
methodology for waste classification and D1.3 Report on acrylic textile waste characterization which
were delivered according to plan.
PARA’ SPA
Major contributions to and review of D1.1, in particular with respect to the creation of the macro model
for the storage and of creation of waste groups; contributions to and review of D1.2, elaboration of a
methodology for selection and assessment of best characterization technologies; contributions to and
review of D1.3
CENTROCOT
Centrocot analysed fabrics from Parà using FT-ATR, HPLC-MS and NIR. He developed the prediction
system using NIR data with chemometric methods, developed at different steps and refining the
parameters to minimize the error.
Soft Chemicals
Soft Chemicals participated in Task 1.2.
Soft Chemicals proceeded by collecting samples of batches provided to Parà SPA, of products used to
finish acrylic textiles in order to start with chemical characterisation. This specific operation was done in order to focus on which kinds of chemical products need to be removed, side by side with Centrocot,
its subcontractor – the University of Bergamo, and Ghent University. After preliminary evaluations,
Soft Chemicals selected the suitable support on where testing each chemical product in order to be easily
removed for subsequent chemical treatment. Another relevant task was to identify chemicals used for
acrylic finishing by gathering the infrared spectrum of melamine resin with a relative catalyst, and of
fluorocarbon resin. A series of infrared spectra of the waste acrylic fabrics were also gathered, in order
to obtain a possible standard infrared reference of the chemical contaminants involved.
Preliminary experiments were carried out by chemical bath treatment, and found that alkaline hydrolysis
alone would not work, but acid hydrolysis treatment was more promising. Thus, alkaline hydrolysis was
discarded, and a cheap, single-step acid hydrolysis treatment was created instead.
This acid hydrolysis treatment was optimised at Ghent University through design of experiment
(definitive screening design) and statistical modelling, providing robust removal of all melamine
formaldehyde resin and softeners, as evaluated by FTIR-ATR (see Task 2.4 for the description of the
removal effectiveness evaluation). The results of the two best removal treatments, termed “maximum
removal” and “industrial removal”, are shown in Figures 1.2.2.1 and 1.2.2.2. Note that the fluorocarbon
resin removal was only partial, and the acrylic coating could not be removed. More than 350 FTIR-ATR
tests and more than 100 chemical bath experiments were carried out to reach these results.
Figure 1.2.2.1 - Results of the acid hydrolysis treatments corresponding to the "maximum removal" parameter
set.
Figure 1.2.2.2 - Results of the acid hydrolysis treatments corresponding to the "industrial removal" parameter
set.
Tensile tests were also carried out throughout the screening design (more than 30 sets of 50 tests each)
and proved that – overall – no significant damage was wrought to the fibres’ mechanical properties
during these acid hydrolysis treatments. The linear density of the fibres was not significantly different before or after treatment, with two anomalies. The maximum force the fibres could resist (force at break)
and their tenacity (specific strength) similarly did not change much, with just a few samples showing
some statistically significant reduction. At the maximum, this resulted in a 10% loss of maximum force
or tenacity. The elongation at break did not change significantly for 23 of the samples and increased for
the remaining 13. The Young's modulus of the fibres (measured between 0% and 1% elongation)
generally increased in a statistically significant manner after treatment.
At the University of Bergamo – the subcontractor for Centrocot – sequential treatments were
investigated, consisting of acid and alkaline hydrolysis steps, but also of washing with a clay-based
detergent, thus combining chemical with mechanical treatments; see Figure 1.2.2.3. Several good
treatments were designed, that succeeded in removing all the melamine formaldehyde resin and
softeners, and even managed to remove a large fraction of the fluorocarbon and acrylic resins. The most
favourable sequential treatments were “A + C + B” or “B* + C + A”
In conclusion, the goal of Task 2.4 was to find a method to assess the finish removal rate thanks to
laboratory testing, and this was achieved.
The following is a summary of the work carried out in WP2 by each partner
Ghent University: UGent evaluated the removal process of finishes on 3 waste categories (awnings,
coatings and furnishings) at laboratory scale, via a cheap, one step process: acid hydrolysis. The removal
process was optimised via a design of experiment approach and the removal effectiveness was evaluated
via FTIR-ATR analysis. Complete removal of the melamine formaldehyde resin and softeners was
possible via this approach. Tensile testing proved that no significant fibre damage was wrought to the
fibres mechanical properties by this one step treatment.
Centrocot (with subcontractor University of Bergamo): Centrocot, investigated the removal process of
finishes on 3 waste categories (awnings, coatings, and furnishings) at laboratory scale by carrying out sequential treatments, consisting of acid and alkaline hydrolysis steps, but also of washing with a clay-
based detergent, thus combining chemical with mechanical treatments. At the same time, were
investigated the contribution of UV radiation to the treatment. The removal process was optimized with
several combination of treatment. The removal effectiveness was evaluated through ATR, HPLC-MS
analysis, and oil repellency tests. The best combination of treatments led to fabrics with no-longer water
and oil repellency properties.
Soft Chemicals: Soft Chemicals aims to give contribute have developed, studied, and formulated
different specific products for chemical attacks such as eco-scouring agent SOFTDET AT, wetting agent
SOFTWET IP 97, sequestering and acid donor SEQUESTER EMG/SB, detergent agent DETERGENT
B10P and specific detergent for alkaline hydrolysis SOFTCLEANER T NEW.
Our research and development team have done several washing trials regarding tasks 2.1-2.2 and 2.3 on
acrylic waste textile 8A-8AW-8C provided from Parà to test relative efficiency.
Treatments have been done under pressure conditions with alkaline and acid hydrolysis.
Acid hydrolysis with SEQUESTER EMG/SB (sequestering agent developed by Soft Chemicals) has
allowed to obtain great results.
Several trials have been carried out in order to help partners in a creations of calibration curves to
determinate removal efficiency.
Soft Chemicals has developed and identified a pilot plan where is possible to wash waste acrylic working
under pressure condition and to treat directly frayed waste acrylic in order to obtain as efficacy as
possible
CETI: After the various experiments, the choice was made to work on the removal of the coating on
textiles in the state of fibres. We will therefore send 150kg of W8A and 134kg of W8AW1 (gross
quantities which do not consider the loss of material due to the fraying process) to Soft Chemicals for
coating shrinkage tests. Fraying of these materials is planned for January.
1.2.3 Work package 3: Treatment of removed chemicals
The focus of this work package shows that the characterization of effluent streams from removal
processes is very important to develop strategies for water treatment and reuse. To optimize treatment
and reuse possibilities, textile industry waste streams will be in principle considered separately. When
the characteristics of the separate streams are known, it will be decided which streams may be combined
to improve treatability and increase reuse options. Wastewater will be treated through conventional
anaerobic, aerobic, and combined anaerobic–aerobic biodegradation techniques.
the fibres in products and the output materials. After that, a questionnaire with the relevant information
to use for LCA study and analysis was prepared.
The collection of data by partners (Jak, Parà and Soft Chemicals) involved in the virgin acrylic fabric
production is finished. The Centrocot sustainability area has started talks with the single partners
involved in order to understand the specific production chain of fabric and start to study and elaborate
the data in the software GaBi. Moreover, with the colloquies it is also possible apprehend the data to
include from database for complete the LCA study and identify the major environmental impact areas
to produce acrylic fabric. The LCA study obtained will be the starting point to evaluate the change of
environmental impact of recycling process develop in the project.
The data acquired in the previous months by the partners involved in the creation of the virgin acrylic
fabric were used to carry out the preliminary LCA study on the virgin fabric that will be compared at
the end of the project with the process developed by REACT with recycled acrylic fabric, through the application of the LCA methodology in accordance with the ISO standard series (ISO, 2006 a, b). The
Life Cycle Impact Assessment is carried out by means of Environmental Footprint method (EC, 2013)
as in its last update (Fazio et al., 2018), and by means of the CML method (Guinee et al., 2002) as in the
2016 update. Further references for the methodology are the PEF method for the transition phase
(Zampori and Pant, 2019), the LCA guidelines indicated by the Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC-IES,
2010) and the EPD International Programme (EPD International, 2019). The impact indicators adopted
are the ones recommended by European Commission when conducting a Product Environmental
Footprint (EC, 2013). The version selected is the most updated one (Fazio et al., 2018). The indicators
were used as in the version implemented into the GaBi software, where the method is named EF 3.0
(Environmental Footprint 3.0).
The study took into account the entire life cycle of the fabric (Figure 3), considering its use as awning,
this involved adding not only the fabric but also the aluminium structure to the LCA study.
Figure 3: System boundaries
Centrocot
Centrocot collected the input and output data for energy, chemicals and water from the various partners
involved for the production of virgin acrylic fabric, with the data obtained it performed an LCA study
There are currently no deviations or updates to Section 2.1 of the DoA. All partners are working towards their respective stated goals.
The project has been working from month 1 to month 18 towards the Expected Impacts (EIs) specified in the DoA.
EI 1: Increased recycling rate and reduced landfill and incineration of secondary raw materials.
At present, the REACT project has highlighted the possibility of recovering and creating a 100% recycled yarn on waste from the industrial production process
before the application of finishing. This amount of waste produced by Parà is (add number) and is equivalent to ...% of the company's waste production. The
mechanical recycling process has confirmed that the percentage of post-fraying fibers that can be used to produce a yarn is at least 87.5%. This leads to a
reduction in the quantity of material destined for incinerators or landfills by…%. This figure can be increased by introducing in the mechanical recycling
process also the waste coming after the finishing application process (...% of the total waste), which in the absence of removal of the finishing requires the
introduction of a percentage of virgin material still to be establish to make spinning possible. Tests on this waste will be further investigated after the finish
removal process. Considering a production of acrylic waste of 7700 tons / year (proposal data), REACT can currently reach a recycled material rate for acrylic
of ...%
EI 2: Increased purity and quality of secondary raw materials, reduced risk of retaining hazardous substances in recycled materials.
The finishing removal process developed so far has resulted in the removal of between 92 - 99% of finishes from the fabric treated at the laboratory level.
The potential of the process at an industrial level must be investigated. Assuming the same removal rate, the final product that can be sent to the market will
have a high purity since most of the substances will be removed. A further improvement of the purity of the final product will be due to the possible introduction
of virgin material, useful for the processing phases and to obtain a material that has the performance required by the market.
EI 3: Environmental impacts.
The project has developed an LCA study on virgin fabric, thus highlighting the most problematic spots for the environment in the production of acrylic fabric.
These hot spots will be investigated to reduce impacts by introducing a recycling process.
The proposal mainly refers to CO2, so a mention of the results could be useful.
EI 4: The implementation of the EU Circular Economy Action Plan and the 7th Environment Action Programme.
The project has developed a management and recovery system for pre-consumer end-of-life material, is developing a process for recycling which at present
has led to the production of a 100% recycled yarn deriving from the recycling of pre-consumer before application of finishing. A recommendation document
for industrial waste management was disclosed giving indications for a post-consumer management and recovery plan with fabric rental services with
replacement of the same at the end of its life, which can introduce circularity systems in the sector. The recycling system will be implemented in order to
reduce the waste of material, substances and energy. The waste water deriving from the chemical removal process will be analyzed and a recovery plan will
be created for the substances used where possible, and a partial recovery of the chemicals used for finishing if not too degraded, the resulting waste will be
removed from the water in order to create a circularity on the use of water resources.
EI 5: The Commission Strategy on Plastics in a Circular Economy
The REACT project has developed an NIR-based chemometric method capable of identifying the finishes present on the acrylic fabric. This predictive model
addresses the lack of information on the possible presence of chemicals of concern which creates a significant obstacle to achieving higher recycling rates,
making chemicals easier to classify in waste streams and simplifying treatment or removal, ensuring a high level of health and environmental protection. NIR
spectroscopy is widely used for the classification and separation of plastics in automated systems, the introduction of the chemometric model makes this
process more precise. In fact, the peculiarity of the chemometric model is the possible expansion of its functions to different fibers, mixtures and substances
present on the fabric, implementing a better separation process that increases recycling rates.
The results of this model were disclosed by the consortium within a public deliverable (D1.3) and during the first project webinar.
EI 6: Implementation of the SPIRE PPP Roadmap
The LCA methodology as applied within the project framework is already based on the EU Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and could
serve as a screening assessment for the outdoor furniture or for acrylic products. The hotspots identified within the analysis can provide a first
example of application for further developing dedicated rules to assess the environmental performance of these type of products.
Similar considerations can be made over the EU Ecolabel. The analysis carried out within the REACT framework could support the development
of criteria dedicated to outdoor furniture, especially when dealing with the use of chemicals and the material recycling/recycled content.
This project has elected to participate in the Open Research Data Pilot. This first version of D1.1 Data Management Plan describes the project’s policy and
practices regarding the provision of Open Access to each of the public deliverables, presentations, and scientific publications it will produce. There has been