As part of its firm commitment to innovation, energy efficiency and sustainability, which make Girbau a benchmark in its industry, the company has collaborated with Elisava, the Barcelona university design and engineering school, through its open innovation platform Girbau Lab (girbaulab.com) to create a new material that represents a major step towards the circular economy in industrial laundry.
Similar to cardboard in form, the material known as Clint is made from lint, i.e. from the solid textile waste recovered straight from the filters of dryers. The innovative nature of this new material lies in the origin of the raw material itself and in the uses that could be made of it, including in the stationery sector and craft printing. Clint returns to the essence of craft processes as it is made with the collaboration of the Capellades paper mill, which has produced the stationery material needed for the new uses and applications, and that of Letter Cotton, a creative print shop.
Elisava and Girbau are already looking into possible uses for this new material. Among other things, Clint could replace certain plastic materials in making pen drive casings, for example, or be used in packaging. Clint is also part of a circular model that represents progress in the laundry business, as it reduces and recovers textile waste and gives it new uses. Girbau machines wash around 25,000 tonnes of linen a day all over the world, and in Catalonia alone industrial laundries are estimated to generate 1,500 kg of waste a week. Clint therefore represents a further step towards a change of mentality to focus on sustainability, reinforcing circular models to reduce the environmental impact of industrial activities.
Girbau and Elisava stand out for their firm commitment to innovation, sustainability and circularity. Girbau has given Elisava students the chance to find out about the business fabric at first hand and work with the professionals of Girbau on a real project to develop new materials and re-use laundry waste. For its part, Elisava makes agreements with businesses and institutions to add value through innovation and research projects carried out by its students.