Page 74 - TEXtalks July-August 2021

74 75

Recycling of Datacolor adds

disposable face temperature control

masks for features for color tests

sustainable future Datacolor® announced new close-tolerance benchtop spectrophotometers designed for high efficiency and

confidence in color formulation and quality control. Datacolor, a global leader in color management solutions,
provides software, instruments, and services to ensure accurate materials, products, and images. The world’s
The Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT, SABIC, and Procter & Gamble (P&G) today announced their collabo- leading brands, manufacturers, and creative professionals have used Datacolor’s innovative solutions to
ration as part of an innovative pilot project on the circular economy, demonstrating the possibilities of achieve the right color for more than 50 years consistently.
returning disposable face masks to the recycling cycle. The billions of uses of disposable face masks to
protect against the coronavirus poses significant risks to the environment, primarily when the masks are Datacolor Spectro 1000 is a standard accurate close-tolerance color measurement instrument. Datacolor
used in public, e.g., B. in parks, at open-air events, or on beaches, are thoughtlessly thrown away. Spectro 1000V is an ideal machine for measuring unusual sample sizes or types and operations requiring high
throughput. Datacolor Spectro 1000X has an aperture upward-facing instrument, ideal for liquid, paste, powder,
In addition to the challenge of finding a sustainable solution for such large quantities of indispensable and granular samples. Datacolor Spectro 1050 is a flexible measurement in either reflectance
hygiene articles, the mere disposal of the used masks in landfills or incineration plants means a loss of or transmittance mode.
valuable raw material with which new materials can be manufactured.
The economic Spectro 700V vertical configuration enables customers to measure a greater variety of samples.
As part of the pilot project, P&G collected used face masks from employees and visitors at its produc- The Spectro 1000X, with its upward-facing aperture, is ideal for liquid, paste, powder, and granular samples. In
tion and research sites in Germany. Even if these masks were always disposed of properly, there was addition, both models allow users to enjoy greater confidence in their color measurements thanks to their ability
still a lack of recycling them efficiently. In order to show alternative approaches, specially provided to capture the temperature of samples measured. This is an essential new quality control feature for those who
collection containers were set up, and the old collected masks were sent to Fraunhofer for further work with materials within specific temperature ranges to assure accurate color measurement.
processing in a unique research pyrolysis facility.

Alchemy-X shoes
MIT Media Lab has made from 90 %

developed a new recycled

knitted keyboard materials

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a knitted musical keyboard.
Seizing on the observation that most of the world’s keyboards up until this point have been somewhat rigid, the Alchemy-X, a new collection of Vienna-based The material is then colored with ecological dyes and
KnittedKeyboard II seeks to spark a paradigm shift in expectations through an interactive, textile-based musical footwear startup Effekt Footwear, is made from 90 finished by hand in a family-owned workshop in
device with the familiar layout of piano keys. Furthermore, the unfamiliar nature of, well, being a piece percent recycled materials. The recycled materials Portugal. The sole comprises at least 70 % rubber
of musical knitwear. include ocean plastic and waste from the fashion waste that was destined to end up in a landfill. A
industry. According to the brand, each pair of trainers is small percentage of it is made from new rubber to
A knitted keyboard is, of course, kind of gimmicky. However, that is no bad thing. It is the kind of eye-catching made with an average of 775 grams of recycled textile ensure the soles are durable and long-lasting.
experimentation that can yield interesting results. In this case, it opens up new ways to play discrete notes, waste, reclaimed rubber, and recovered ocean plastic. Organic cotton in the stitching, embroidery, and
effects, and modulations. It is not the first unusual tech-meets-musical instrument project we have seen come woven tag is the only other new material used. With
out of MIT, but it is certainly up there with the most interesting. Textile scraps, offcuts, and other scrap materials from Alchemy-X, which is available via a Kickstarter, Effekt
the Portuguese textile industry are recovered before Footwear aims to help clean up the planet by
The project reportedly started out intending to be wearable, foldable keyboard for the late American jazz being sent to landfills. Materials such as cotton are upcycling waste into raw material, allowing customers
musician Lyle Mays to use for composing on the road. The keyboard has been developed using conductive then broken down and spun back into new yarn for to create a positive impact and reduce their carbon
inks, piezoelectric materials, and a knitted polyester as a base. the trainers. footprint.

July/August 2021 July/August 2021