Sustainable Hybrid Optimization of Recycled Textiles through Rheological and Enzymatic Processes for the Circular Design of Insulation Panels
ProgettoThis research establishes a cross-sectoral industrial symbiosis between the textile value chain and the construction industry to address key EU and national climate targets (European Green Deal, Renovation Wave, STREPIN). The built environment drives approximately 37% of global energy-related CO2 emissions and 35% of EU waste, yet the building insulation market remains dominated by fossil-derived (EPS, PU foams) or energy-intensive mineral materials with high embodied carbon and low hygrothermal compatibility with historical masonry. Concurrently, the EU generates 12.6 million tons of textile waste annually, with less than 1% recycled into high-value applications. Complex multi-fiber blends (cotton-polyester-elastane) are systematically incinerated or landfilled due to a lack of non-destructive industrial separation technologies, leading to a severe net loss of sequestered carbon. To extend biogenic carbon storage and replace hazardous conventional recycling, this project introduces a parallel, biotechnologically driven "Textile Bio-refinery" cascading model to manufacture a fully reversible Hybrid Sandwich Panel (HSP) for thermo-acoustic building envelopes. The panel architecture physically splits
properties across distinct engineered layers: a high-stiffness external skin, mechanically refined textile fractions consolidated via AirLay panel-forming and thermo-compression into high-density sheets, coated with a recycled elastane film, and a porous insulating core, manufactured from agri-food residues and cellulose waste, microstructurally tailored via rheological optimization to lower thermal conductivity within self-supporting boundaries. The technological
breakthrough relies on total alignment with Design for Disassembly (DfD) principles. The HSP integrates formaldehyde- and VOC-free bio-adhesives derived from natural polysaccharide and protein matrices. These green binders ensure excellent interfacial load transfer during operation, while enabling a controlled physical/chemical detachment mechanism at end-of-life to guarantee clean separation and fractional recycling guided by a blockchain-linked Digital Material
Passport.
The 36-month operational architecture is distributed across 5 interconnected Work Packages led by a complementary 4-unit consortium, University of Calabria, Politecnico di Milano, Università di Genova e l’Università di Brescia. The final HSP targets outstanding performance like thermal conductivity within 0.040–0.065 W/mK, an acoustic absorption coefficient up to 0.77, and a 40% reduction in Embodied Carbon over petrochemical benchmarks. Generating robust environmental/chemical data to support upcoming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulatory schemes, the project bridges structural functionality, circularity, and New European Bauhaus (NEB) aesthetics—positioning Italy at the forefront of green bio-refinery engineering.
properties across distinct engineered layers: a high-stiffness external skin, mechanically refined textile fractions consolidated via AirLay panel-forming and thermo-compression into high-density sheets, coated with a recycled elastane film, and a porous insulating core, manufactured from agri-food residues and cellulose waste, microstructurally tailored via rheological optimization to lower thermal conductivity within self-supporting boundaries. The technological
breakthrough relies on total alignment with Design for Disassembly (DfD) principles. The HSP integrates formaldehyde- and VOC-free bio-adhesives derived from natural polysaccharide and protein matrices. These green binders ensure excellent interfacial load transfer during operation, while enabling a controlled physical/chemical detachment mechanism at end-of-life to guarantee clean separation and fractional recycling guided by a blockchain-linked Digital Material
Passport.
The 36-month operational architecture is distributed across 5 interconnected Work Packages led by a complementary 4-unit consortium, University of Calabria, Politecnico di Milano, Università di Genova e l’Università di Brescia. The final HSP targets outstanding performance like thermal conductivity within 0.040–0.065 W/mK, an acoustic absorption coefficient up to 0.77, and a 40% reduction in Embodied Carbon over petrochemical benchmarks. Generating robust environmental/chemical data to support upcoming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulatory schemes, the project bridges structural functionality, circularity, and New European Bauhaus (NEB) aesthetics—positioning Italy at the forefront of green bio-refinery engineering.