Lightweight wall panels made from waste textile fibres

There are many blogs online that show you how to turn your worn out jeans into a lovely purse, but what do you do when your favourite article of clothing is worn to a thread? Perhaps a few years ago, you would have thrown it in the trash, along with other garbage, but nowadays, there are many organisations that collect waste textile to recycle. Researchers at School of Architecture at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) have developed a lightweight panel made from waste textile fibres that improve the thermal and acoustic conditions of buildings.

We all know that recycling is good for the environment, but still a lot of textile ends up on the landfill. In the European Union alone 5.8 million tons of textile wastes are discarded every year, of only 25% is recycled. Charity organisations and large firms like H&M alike are trying to do their bit by collecting waste textiles and recycling them.

Waste textile offers a large range of possibilities to create new things. Some companies create new products made from leftover materials, others make new clothes. Even the use of old textile for building material is not new, it can be used as isolation, and wall and ceiling coating.

The panels developed by the researchers, however, are supposed to be lighter in weight and provide a better acoustic and thermal performance. The used fibres do not require any special treatment before use. In order not to use any chemical products that would nullify the effort not to place any strain on the environment, the researchers chose to use a binder made from natural hydraulic lime to make the panels. Whether the panels will be available in different colours is unclear.