Scientists at Deakin University say they've discovered a novel way to repurpose old clothing by transforming them into vibrant pigments. It's hoped the innovative approach can be an environmentally friendly solution to Australia's growing textile waste problem, giving new life to old threads.
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00:00 So really laying it on there.
00:04 Kitty Tafai never thought she'd be using old clothing as paint.
00:08 I was just really eager to get it onto a white canvas to see what the colours would look
00:13 like.
00:14 She's one of six indigenous artists who recently used a pigment powder made from recycled clothing
00:19 to create artwork for an exhibition.
00:22 If we can actually take these beautiful bright fabrics, break it down into a usable pigment
00:28 and then put these amazing pieces of art into the world, there was just something really
00:31 amazing about that.
00:33 It's part of a Deakin University research project looking at solutions to Australia's
00:38 textile waste problem.
00:40 Over 200,000 tonnes of clothing is going to landfill every year and that environmental
00:46 impact is huge.
00:47 The scientists are using existing machines from industries such as agriculture and mining
00:53 to grind down fabric into small particles.
00:57 The process just uses water, no heat, no other chemicals, just water.
01:00 So it's very environmentally friendly.
01:02 The next step is figuring out how to make the process commercially viable.
01:07 There's a lot of work that needs to be done to secure large volumes of clothing so that
01:13 the textile recyclers can build that infrastructure.
01:18 Pigment's got a tremendous amount of potential uses.
01:21 So we feel it can go back into topical paints, it can go into building products.
01:29 And eventually the pigment could go back into making new clothes.
01:33 Really what we want is your old t-shirt turning into your new t-shirt.
01:37 Deakin University is now looking at the carbon footprint of the machines to figure out the
01:42 most sustainable way to scale the method.
01:45 But with Australia's innovation in the area of textile recycling still in its infancy,
01:51 the path ahead may stretch out for a while yet.
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