New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Project category

Identify the award category for which this project is being submitted
Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life-cycle thinking

Email user
anext@albinigroup.com

Basic information
Project title
RETWIST+

Full Project Title
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Please provide a short, catchy description of your project to be used in communication towards the public.
Retwist+ is a circular economy project where recycling becomes the center of a closed-loop cycle. 100% cotton denim left-overs from the past Albini Group collections were transformed into new fabrics for the Group’s denim collection, Albiate 1830. The composition is 30% recycled fiber and 70% organic Supima cotton. Using only denim fabrics has made it possible to obtain an already dyed product of a pale indigo nuance, eliminating the dyeing phase and reducing the use of water and other resources

What was the geographical scope of your project?
Cross-border/international

Where was your project implemented?
Location 1
Italy

Location 2
Spain

Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries
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If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
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Does your project address mainly urban or rural issues?
Mainly urban

Does your project refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)

Has your project benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

Has your project won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

Is your project fully completed
Yes

Please indicate a date (mm/yy)
2022-11-18

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As a representative of an organisation
Please provide the contact details for the project promoter (the individual or representative of the organisation authorised to represent the project)
- Name of the organisation(s): Cotonificio Albini S.p.A.
  Type of organisation: For-profit company
  First name of representative: Giorgia
  Last name of representative: Carissimi
  Gender: Female
  Nationality: Italy
  Function: Innovation Manager
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Via Dr. Silvio Albini, 1
  Town: Albino (BG)
  Postal code: 24021
  Country: Italy
  Direct Tel: +39 035 777111
  E-mail: anext@albinigroup.com
  Website: https://www.albinigroup.com/en/
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: https://www.linkedin.com/company/albini-group/mycompany/
- URL: https://www.instagram.com/albini1876/
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): @albini1876, #albini1876
- URL: https://www.facebook.com/albinigroup
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): #AlbiniGroup #albini1876
- URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/AlbiniGroup
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): @AlbiniGroup
- URL: https://www.instagram.com/albini_next/?hl=it
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): @albini_next, #albini_next
- URL: https://www.albininext.com/en/
In case my project is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my project in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
New European Bauhaus or European Commission websites

Description of the project
Please provide a summary of your project.
Retwist+ is a circular economy project where recycling becomes entirely closed-loop: from denim fabric left-overs from Albini Group’s collections to new base fabrics for the Albini’s denim brand Albiate 1830. 100% cotton denim remnants from past Albini Group’s collections have been shredded and converted into fibre. This was followed by a significant study to assess the best blend and obtain a good-quality recycled yarn.

The project resulted in a blend composed of 30% recycled cotton and 70% organic Supima virgin cotton, from which the new recycled yarn Retwist+, Closing the Loop, was made. Using solely denim fabrics has made it possible to obtain an already dyed finished product featuring a pale indigo nuance, thus eliminating the entire dyeing phase and reducing the use of water and resources during the production process. Thanks to the support and creativity of the Group’s Style Department, several fabric bases were designed which will complete the new selection presented in the forthcoming Albiate 1830 denim collection.

Please indicate the main themes of your project with 5 key words.
CIRCULAR economy

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
Closed LOOP

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
RECYCLING

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
NO DYEING

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
FABRICS

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
Retwist+ is a project that involves sustainability principles since it arises from the concept of transforming fabrics that are still in the warehouse (unsold or obsolete) into a new resource. Also, it aims to the concept of ‘closed-loop’ because from left-overs of the Albini Group, new fabrics are obtained with 30% of recycled fiber and reinserted in the new Albini’s denim collection.
As such, the project is in line with several values belonging to circular economy. By leveraging the "9R framework of circular economy", Retwist+ addresses the Rethink, Reduce and Remanufacture principles.
Furthermore, Retwist+ represents also a great example of how a project can also respond to 2030 UN SDGs. As a matter of fact, this project addresses Goals 9 and 12, related to fostering innovation and ensuring responsible consumption and production.

Moreover, we decided to select and use only denim/indigo leftovers because in this way we obtained a fiber that was already dyed and the new fabric bases were created on shades of blue, eliminating completely the dyeing phases and therefore reducing the use of chemical dyes, auxiliaries and water.

The project also aims to raise awareness among Albini Group’s customers (i.e. fashion brands) and to demonstrate that left-overs can become a new resource. In fact, some customers have asked Albini to build a similar project with their own leftovers, studying ad hoc projects and products based on their needs.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
One of Albini's strategic objectives is to create the most beautiful fabrics in the world, of high quality and with a focus on sustainability. Albini creates fabrics using mainly cotton, linen and other natural fibers for the most important fashion brands in the world and considers beauty an essential value. With this project, Albini implements important values linked to circular economy into aesthetics. The great effort required to build and organize its own supply chain has allowed the company to create strong awareness of its reality, both regarding downcycling and upcycling issues, and has demonstrated that it is possible to work in a circular economy, reducing the negative impact of a linear process that characterizes most of the entrepreneurial realities.

Furthermore, the different teams inside Albini, from the production of the yarn to the creation of the fabrics, have worked together to produce new fabric bases with a quality and aesthetics superior to most of the proposals available on the market today. In fact, these are new denim fabrics with an elegant and refined look.
The new denim fabrics give the final user a unique experience, allowing them to wear a beautiful and high quality fabric while being conscious of its sustainable identity.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
Thanks to this project, Albini has created new fabrics at an affordable price, which have entered into the new Albiate 1830 Denim collection and which can be purchased by all customers. Furthermore, Albini demonstrated that a new circular model is implementable in a big corporation and that it can create value for the company.

With projects like this, is it possible to create connections between companies, entrepreneurs, industry experts, global consumer goods companies, retailers, financial institutions, and municipalities. The project shows how a profitable activity can have also positive social and environmental impact by reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions through material innovation, advanced recycling technologies, supply chain optimization and diversion of materials from landfill.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project
Retwist+ is a specific example of how the implementation of the circular economy and the closed loop management in a corporation are possible and can create direct and indirect value for the environment, the company and, in some way, for the society. How does Retwist+ adds value to society? Because it can be used as an ideal case study and feasible project about how profitable activities and sustainability can walk together. Retwist+ can be shown in schools and universities as a case study to: (i) inspire students to take more sustainable decisions in their future work environments; (i) inspire students that want to build their own entrepenourship activities; (iii) raise awareness amongst young people as citizens, driving them into ethical consumption and informed shopping choices. In addition, projects like Retwist+ have a lot of resonance in different media platforms and press, so they can be used to positively influence the final consumers about sustainability topics and alternatives for more ethical choices.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the project. Please highlight what the added value of their engagement was.
Several players have been involved in this project. First, setting up the supply chain was not an easy task because the regulations regarding circular economy are not fully understood yet. Therefore, it was useful to discuss the topic with the Regional and the Provincial councilors to understand how to transform industrial leftovers while remaining compliant with the law.

Second, a Spanish company was involved as supplier, which transformed the left-over fabrics into new yarn after a careful study carried out by Albini's technicians.
Then, the fabric designers and the industrialization team were brought into the project to create the fabric bases.

Finally, an important marketing campaing and collaboration with the media was carried out to launch the project to the public.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your project. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was.
Several players from many disciplines and with different skills worked in the project. For example, the participation of the local authorities was fundamental for the compliance with regulations linked to waste, by-products, and leftovers management. Several disciplines in the textile sector were also important. First, experts in the recycling of textiles destroyed the left-over fabrics and advised Albini on how to work with this secondary raw material. Then, the Albini spinning team was involved to test the recycled fiber in the production lines and find the best yarn quality. After that, the know-how of the style department was crucial to choose the new fabric bases to be produced. Finally, experts from the weaving and finishing phases worked in the project through the different steps of the production, and also the marketing and the sales departments at last.

Retwist+ required the collaboration between several departments and teams inside Albini, as well as external advisors and suppliers, that worked together in the best way to complete this important project.

Please give information on the results, outcomes and impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for. This includes also benefits from the project for direct and indirect beneficiaries
Retwist+ is a project of circular economy where fabric leftovers are transformed into a new valuable resource. In this specific project, Albini worked hard to build a closed-loop supply chain, resulting on the implementation of a new business model that starts with the transformation of traceable and unsold products into something new: fabric bases presented in a new aesthetic form and introduced into the Albiate 1830 denim collection. In this way, Albini was able to reduce inventories, industrial waste and manufacturing costs. This is one of the milestones that will help Albini reaching and implementing its sustainability strategy.
Circular economy projects like Retwist+ can reduce the need of using new resources, cutting the related impact on the environment and providing a sustainable solution to Albini’s customers.
Finally, the new fabric bases were designed with an eco-design perspective, using only 100% recyclable cotton (70% virgin and 30% shredded) and removing impactful production phases like the yarn dyeing.

Please provide documents showing the results, outcomes and impacts of your project
Web link
Web link
- https://www.albininext.com/en/projects/retwist/
Please highlight the innovative character of the project, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the project
Circular economy is one of the most discussed topics in the textile industry today. Several companies are working to implement new products, projects, strategies, and business models. Fabric recycling is one of the solutions to these challenges and it is an old transformation technique now rooted only in the wool world. In the cotton filed this production process is still underdeveloped and characterized by several technical limitations. The first boundary is linked to the choice of the secondary raw material: if the starting point is a jersey fabric, the shredding phase allows to obtain longer fibers with a better quality. If the raw material is a weaved fabric produced with fine yarns, like Albini’s fabrics, the final fiber after the shredding phase is very short and difficult to use in production. In addition, cotton shredded fiber allows to produce only coarse and rustic yarns with a limited recycled content.
Retwist+ is an innovative project not only because it is based on recycling principles, but also because it gave life to a closed-loop cycle that uses only traceable secondary raw materials from Albini’s world.
Moreover, Albini has studied successfully how to produce a more regular yarn, in eco-design perspective, that can be proposed to its customers in the high and luxury range, leaving behind the idea that recycled means only rustic and anti-aesthetic.
Finally, Albini has engineered new fabrics offering new appealing proposals: streetwear and chic bases for the new Albiate 1830 denim collection.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your project.
The project is part of a specific path that Albini is following to reduce its environmental impact and answer to its sustainability strategy. One of the pillars of this strategy is linked to the improvement of a circular business model. To do that, ALBINI_next, Albini’s innovation team is studying how to reduce, reuse or recycle its own textile waste, by-products and leftovers.

The first step done was the analysis of the flows and quantities of the different typologies of textile products. Then, ALBINI_next proposed several possibilities among which Albini’s managers could choose. Retwist+ was selected and implemented as a pilot project with three phases of research (investigating the existing technology, scouting of the right partners, and first lab trials), three phases of development (pre-industrial, industrial, industrialization process) and, at the end, the market launch into Albiate 1830 collection. Now several customers are buying the new fabrics and are asking to replicate the project with their own leftovers.

Please describe which elements of your project could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and context. This may involve for example aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings etc.
Retwist+ in an example of how a closed-loop cycle is possible to implement in a company and how it can create social, environmental and economic value. With the right measures, the project can be replicated in other textile companies and industries. The technologies used for recycling are well known. The shredding process could be done internally buying a specific machine or externally through many partners located in Italy or in other parts of Europe and the world. The spinning phase could be completed through open-end and ring traditional technologies. The know-how built during the project in terms of production process, design, regulations and supply chain management could be transferred from Albini to other players. It is important to follow a precise path with the correct method. Thus, processes, products and technology can be easily accessible and replicable for companies belonging to the same industrial sector but, at the same time, by combining the latter with the applied methodology and learning process, this project can be shaped as an exemplary model that can foster sustainable best practices also in other contexts and industries.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the project addresses by providing local solutions
Retwist+ answers to one of the most important challenges linked to the textile industry: how to build a circular industrial ecosystem. The impact that textile sector has in terms of environmental and social issues is already known and governments are asking from several years to companies worldwide to improve their commitment and pursue a more sustainable growth strategy. In the guidelines of every country in the world and government, circular economy is one of the most required topics. Retwist+ is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030), in particular with: (i) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, because Albini, with its ALBINI_next think thank, has worked to promote innovation and a responsible and sustainable industrialization; (ii) Responsible Consumption, because Retwist+ is an example of how ensure sustainable models of production and consumption is possible. Retwist+ is a small local solution that could be replicate in every part of the world, an idea with a positive impact that, if linked to similar others, can do the difference to drive the future changes in production and to build a better world.
Thus, this project addresses the challenges that the entire world is required to face related to Net Zero and Scope 3 Emissions and Circular Economy principles adoption.
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Yes

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Yes

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Yes

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Yes

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By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their projects, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted project, is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
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By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes