Fibrillogenesis aims to turn hard to recycle animal waste into high value

Fibrillogenesis aims to turn hard to recycle animal waste into high value, on demand textile products.

The company, which CIPA has nominated for an Earthshot Prize in the Build A Waste Free World category, is developing a technology to process waste such as low value animal hides into a sustainable filament that is then made suitable for knit and woven textile products.

In the process of reducing waste, company director David O’Leary explains:

“The technology extracts collagen and creates strong continuous filaments from the protein, creating a great alternative to synthetic yarns.

The companies patent attorney Anne Marie- Conn from the firm Abel + Imray said:

“Waste animal matter from tanneries or abattoirs contain usable materials. Enormous volumes of low value animal hides (such as those of cattle which have survived extreme winter conditions, or which have been in contact with barbed wire, and which are therefore badly damaged) are sent to landfill, burnt, buried or otherwise disposed of as being unsuitable or not required for the production of leather.

A material that may be extracted from waste animal hides and skins is collagen. Collagen extracted from waste is of limited biomedical use, so there remains a need to utilise such valuable collagen in a more effective way.”

This process creates filaments which can be further processed to ensure a seamless implementation into existing  supply chains.