Focusing on sustainability in the textile sector, the “DyeLoop” project proposes innovative solutions for dyeing fabrics, using distinctive circular technologies to reuse dyes and significantly reduce water and energy consumption. With funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation totalling 1.4 million euros, new biotechnological solutions for the production of more sustainable textiles will also be investigated over the next three years.

Through the addition of an extractant (an ecological and low-cost chemical compound), the “DyeLoop” technology will make it possible to separate the dye from the contaminated water after dyeing, enabling it to be recovered and reused. This is expected to reduce costs by more than 50 per cent compared to the conventional textile dyeing process currently used, by improving energy efficiency and recovering the compounds used in the dyeing stage.

The project was presented in Coimbra on 18 February and included speeches by the Rector of the University of Coimbra, Amílcar Falcão, the President of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, António M. Feijó, the Foundation’s Executive Director, António Cruz Serra, and the project coordinator, Jorge Pereira.

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