In the Netherlands only 59% of the 25kg of plastic waste generated p.p.p.y. is recycled. Plastics like PET and PP are increasingly recycled for high-grade applications but HDPE is mostly down-cycled.
Project Chrysalis develops recycled monofilament yarns for closed-loop textile products out of HDPE sourced from household waste. Post-consumer HDPE mostly comes from packaging and can have any color. This color mix results in grey pellets after processing at the recycling plant.
We aim to increase the potential application of grey post-consumer HDPE by developing both its functional and aesthetic qualities in textile yarn. We want to show its potential through the design of inspiring product samples. The Chrysalis yarn is being developed to work on industrial knitting machines and may be used for applications ranging from nets to spacers.
At DDW we present the first results of this ongoing research.
