Balena collaborates with the fashion label Adjustable Seams on 3D printed, recyclable clothing.

Balena, a global leader in materials science, collaborated with English 3D printing company Variable Seams to highlight the “durability and durability of Flextex3D, which enables the 3D printers of fabrics and garments… while supporting sustainability by reducing environmental effect and defossilising provide chains.”

Balena CEO and founder David Roubach describes FlexTex3D as” a destructive alternative to the problems of oversupply and economic waste in the fashion industry.”

It aims to address the issue of fashion’s oversupply crisis in which 40 % of clothing are empty annually, equivalent to 60 billion items. The use of substances like polyester and nylon, which “leading to environmental degradation and large amounts of fossil oil-based clothing ending up in landfills,” makes this situation worse.

Finding the right supplies is difficult to find, but the two companies believe 3D printing may be beneficial for creating individualized and on-demand clothing.

Balena said:” The ones we have now — like PLA and PHA — are n’t flexible, strong, or durable enough, and do n’t feel right for clothes. We require better substances that can deteriorate and also function. We need better components that break down quickly and smart, feel, and look well”.

And that’s where FlexTex3D technologies, underpinned by the agency’s BioCirflex3D bio- based, recyclable and biodegradable thermoplastic material. It makes it possible to 3D print” not merely very flexible and extremely durable but critically, wearable” fabrics and clothing.

BioCirflex3D has recyclable properties and “presents a game- changing solution for completely round additive textile manufacturing, where waste is designed out and materials are renewable, addressing the industry’s immediate need for efficient circular materials”. It’s designed to be able to remove “harmful regular plastics” like nylon, polyester, polypropylene, PVC, and PET used in style.

The company has collaborated with Brigitte Kock, founder of Variable Seams, on the material that contains 50 % or more bio-based ingredients and offers a zero-waste alternative thanks to handled biodegradability, including the ability to recycle the products at the end of use.