Trash-2-Cash Project: Third Milestone Report D9.4

Trash-2-Cash is an EU funded project under the Horizon 2020 research programme. The project started in June 2015 and will be running until the end of November 2018. It applies Design-Driven Material Innovation (DDMI) as a tool for development routes within design, materials research and manufacturing of new materials, services and products. The overall objective of the Trash-2-Cash project is to develop new materials and products via creative design from waste materials and industrial side-products or by-products from the textile and paper industries and to promote development within the creative sector by providing technology solutions for exploitation of waste streams and design for recycling. 18 partners from 10 countries formed a cross-disciplinary team of designers, material researchers, and manufacturers in combination with specialists on behavioural research and cost and environmental assessments. Having all these specialists on board means that waste materials can be used to create new fibres that can be spun and woven, knitted or formed, into high performance textiles and composites, which can then be made into innovative new products. The full chain is represented within the project.

The design team drives the material innovation in close collaboration with the material R&D and manufacturer teams. The project flow has three iterative phases called “Cycles” that repeat specific steps. The end/beginning of each Cycle corresponds with a milestone, the delivery of prototypes. The prototypes were finalized during the third and final Cycle of the project, the refinement Cycle into full product prototypes or Master Cases. These Master Cases are now ready and have been displayed for a broader audience during the Dutch Design Week in October 2018.