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written by ELAINE LEMBO From Trash to TEXTILES A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

“We can mold larger elements such as bowls for the kitchen, or thin films — all from these plastics.” founder and president of Kestrel Innovative Fibers LLC (KIF), of Wakefield, Rhode Island, produces fibers from recycled plastics harvested from the ocean. KIF’s multi and monofilaments can be used for tennis racket strings, clothing, and sports apparel, among other products. “From my perspective, textiles are the best materials,” says Ciesielska-Wrobel. “I love textiles. If you have a fishing net that was floating somewhere off California, and someone scoops it up, then decontaminates it, re-melts it, makes pellets, and sends it to me, now I can use this polyester to produce monofilament and multifilament for my textiles. I can use these pellets in other ways, too. For example, - Izabella Ciesielska-Wrobel

By 2040, the amount of synthetic textiles in our oceans is expected to hit 29 million metric tons. These materials like polyester and nylon partially replace natural fibers like cotton and wool, but they are detrimental to our environment because they don’t disintegrate and decompose. There’s a real need for the work being done by researcher Izabela Ciesielska Wrobel and businessman Robert Torgerson. Their joint effort to find answers to the complex challenge of

turning trash into treasure is shows promise.

The pair of self-avowed “fiber fanatics” are in the early days of a collaboration to find ways plastic waste can become the foundation for a new type of textile with practical applications. Ciesielska Wrobel is an assistant professor in the Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design department at the University of Rhode Island (URI). Torgerson is the

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