Textile waste, when employed as package insulation, has the added benefit of also supplying cushioning effects to further protect package contents. This sustainable alternative and its resulting thermal resistance benefits are currently being applied to the packaging sector by a handful of packaging firms. Bonded Logic is a provider of both housing insulation as well as packaging products, marketing the materials for food, pharma, and gift shipping solutions with their NaturalBlue Thermal Shipping Solution. The textile is all post-consumer and post-industrial waste – mainly denim - that has been cleaned and treated. The insulation mat can then be wrapped in Kraft paper, plastic, or foil-faced plastics. EkoPack is a packaging supplier utilizing post-consumer denim and paper waste blends to produce a product called GreenPak. EcoLiner by Insulated Products is a similar product. Both companies claim that the insulating material is compostable in commercial composting facilities. According to Briga-Sa et al, who tested the applicability of using textiles for housing insulation in Portugal, woven fabric waste (WFW) and woven fabric sub-waste (WFS) are capable of delivering the same insulating power as standard materials. The textiles that were utilized were from 100% acrylic textiles. The thermal conductivity values that were generated during their testing were comparable to those of expanded and extruded polystyrene and mineral wool (Briga-Sa et al, 2012). Source Product Material Density Thermal R Thickness Method Conductivity Value (k, W/mK) Briga-Sa et WFW Acrylic 440 0.044 - - al, 2012 Briga-Sa et WFS Acrylic 122.5 0.103 - - al, 2012 BondedLogic Ultra Post-consumer -- 8-30 51-203 ASTM Touch waste denim mm C-518 Denim and Insulation ASTM C-739 EkoPack GreenPak Post-consumer -- -- -- insulated waste denim shipper and paper
Textile waste, when employed as package insulation, has the added benefit of also supplying cushioning effects to further protect package contents. This sustainable alternative and its resulting thermal resistance benefits are currently being applied to the packaging sector by a handful of packaging firms. Bonded Logic is a provider of both housing insulation as well as packaging products, marketing the materials for food, pharma, and gift shipping solutions with their NaturalBlue Thermal Shipping Solution. The textile is all post-consumer and post-industrial waste – mainly denim - that has been cleaned and treated. The insulation mat can then be wrapped in Kraft paper, plastic, or foil-faced plastics. EkoPack is a packaging supplier utilizing post-consumer denim and paper waste blends to produce a product called GreenPak. EcoLiner by Insulated Products is a similar product. Both companies claim that the insulating material is compostable in commercial composting facilities. According to Briga-Sa et al, who tested the applicability of using textiles for housing insulation in Portugal, woven fabric waste (WFW) and woven fabric sub-waste (WFS) are capable of delivering the same insulating power as standard materials. The textiles that were utilized were from 100% acrylic textiles. The thermal conductivity values that were generated during their testing were comparable to those of expanded and extruded polystyrene and mineral wool (Briga-Sa et al, 2012). Source Product Material Density Thermal Conductivity (k, W/mK) R Value Thickness Method Briga-Sa et al, 2012 WFW Acrylic 440 0.044 - - Briga-Sa et al, 2012 WFS Acrylic 122.5 0.103 - - BondedLogic Ultra Touch Denim Insulation Post-consumer waste denim -- 8-30 51-203 mm ASTM C-518 and ASTM C-739 EkoPack GreenPak insulated shipper Post-consumer waste denim and paper -- -- --