Raytent: high-quality yarns and fabrics made from solar tents industry cut-offs

RAYTENT
Type of organisation or company
Country
Italy
City
VILLIMPENTA
Language for original content
Project elaborated in partnership
No
Start/End date
Ongoing
Yes
Expected end date
07/2021
Type of funding
Giovanardi - Sara Selmin
Description

In the solar protection industry, the manufacturing of awnings produces an average of 10% of discarded fabrics. These by-products do not have a real second use, but are disposed of in landfills in accordance with current legislation. Off-cuts routinely amount to the equivalent of about 70,000 awnings, comparable to the number of awnings installed in the region of Rome in one year.

Via its exclusive Raytent production line, Giovanardi is able to recycle those technical acrylic textiles to create high-quality yarns and fabrics. The process was made possible via Giovanardi's Research and Development department, together with a team of chemists highly specialised in textile recovery, tackling specific issues in recycling mass-dyed outdoor acrylic fibre.

The resulting Raytent™ yarn is made through blending at least 50 % of recycled material with other high-quality fibres to meet the needs of various market segments, emerging as particularly attractive for sectors such as fashion and interior design. Features from the original textiles such as color fastness to UV rays, stain-resistant and anti-mold behavior are preserved.


Main results

The recycled material comes entirely from textiles for acrylic awnings with OEKO-TEX® certification.

The project implies using the manufacturers’ supply chain to recover the offcuts, their unravelling and, through dedicated machines, the production of a cotton-type yarn suitable for subsequent reuse. This process permits a reduction in the consumption of raw materials (monomer and solvents for example) and reduction in textile production processes with a significant long-term impact.

Examples of RAYTENT™ products​:

  • yarns with a soft hand for cushions and upholstery
  • yarns with a stiff hand for sun protection textiles
  • twisted yarns for full textures like rugs, bags and accessories, etc.