Reducing Plastic in Consumer Goods: Opportunities for Coarser Wool

Abstract

Production and use of plastic products have drastically increased during the past decades and their environmental impacts are increasingly spotlighted. At the same time, coarse wool, a by-product of meat and dairy production, goes largely unexploited in the EU. This paper asks why more coarse wool is not used in consumer goods, such as acoustic and sound-absorbing products, garden products, and sanitary products. This is answered through a SWOT analysis of results from a desktop study and interviews with producers of these products made from wool, as well as policy documents relating to wool, waste, textiles, and plastic. Findings show that on a product level, the many inherent properties of wool create opportunities for product development and sustainability improvements and that using the coarser wool represents an opportunity for replacing plastics in many applications as well as for innovation. This is, however, dependent on local infrastructure and small-scale enterprises, but as such, it creates opportunities for local value chains, value creation, and safeguarding of local heritage. The shift to small-scale and local resource utilization requires systemic change on several levels: Here the findings show that policy can incentivize material usage transitions, but that these tools are little employed currently.

Eco-Friendly Processing of Wool and Sustainable Valorization of This Natural Bioresource

“…The environmental cost of wool processing has imposed the discovery of new applications in order to justify the expenditure. Thus, a performed Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) analysis revealed that wool may be used successfully, instead of plastic materials, in many products other than clothes [197].…”

“…Concerning the sustainable aspects of wool valorization and the prospects of wool for replacing plastic materials, we have taken into consideration the advantages and disadvantages of such replacement (see Table 3) [197]. As listed in Table 3, wool has many qualities useful for successfully challenging the use of plastics, and, for the environment, it would be beneficial if wool at least partially replaced these materials.…”

Towards Sustainable Color Cosmetics Packaging

“…Recycled fibers may also be used for molded fiber products [386]. Animalorigin fibers such as wool are also being researched [387]. Cork-polymer composites with chitosan and PE-graft-maleic anhydride has been studied for its improved mechanical and thermal characteristics, as well as its antibacterial and antifouling properties [388].…”

Removal of volatile organic compounds and odorous compounds for multilayer packaging recyclates using heated air purging

“…Cabanes [24], [25]. These studies were conducted only on HDPE and polyethylene imine materials and limited to only virgin materials.…”