Sponsors

This event is free to register for due to the generous sponsorship of the IOM3 Elastomer Group programme by our sponsors:

Tickets are available for attendance in-person at our IOM3 London venue, or virtually via Zoom.

For questions about this event contact James Lee

Click the image below to go to the IOM3 Elastomer Group page:

Free

Elastomers in Sustainable Fashion

1.30pm – 4pm 15 December 2023

The IOM3 Elastomer Group's Afternoon Technical Discussion Meeting series is the main platform for the technical and scientific community in the UK to discuss the use of rubber and elastomers materials. This meeting will have a particular focus on sustainable fashion.

This hybrid seminar will demonstrate a diverse overview of Elastomers in Sustainable Fashion and illustrate the different approaches to using elastomers in the industry.

3 take-away benefits for participants attending this event:

The importance of elastomer materials to the global fashion industry.
Understand how the use of elastomer materials in the fashion industry can be made more circular.
Explore the future of more sustainably sourced materials can be used in the fashion industry.

María José Munguía-Romero: Understanding the Sustainability Challenges in the Shoe/Trainer Industry

Shoes currently are very rarely recycled. Typically, about 20 different components are found in a shoe, often these are made from different materials including elastomers. These materials are sewn and glued together to make products with specific properties, textures, and aesthetics that are hard to recycle. Exploring using life cycle analysis allows adjustments in the design, the material selection and the processes required to manufacture shoes to be explored. This will allow a comparison of the impact that mono-materials, technological manufacturing techniques and minimalist design on the environmental impact and increase the recyclability of shoes in the future.

Prof Veronika Kapsali: Leveraging Elastomers in Fashion Design: Bioinspired Insights for Material Scientists

This talk sheds light on the dynamic intersection of bioinspired design principles, material science and textile design. We explore how textile design practice can be applied to implement mechanisms of natural elastomers, such as spider silk and plant fibers, at macro scale. Moreover, we delve into the transformative potential of this approach within the context of sustainability and circular design, addressing resource efficiency and recovery.

Edward TJ Mitchell: Transforming beer protein into a leather alternative - entrepreneurship & biomaterial innovation

Leather and plastic-leather are unsustainable; by manipulating the rich protein content within brewers’ spent grain, the waste grain from brewing industry, Arda Biomaterials have developed an animal & plastic free alternative. Starting from kitchen experiments, the Arda team have since built a company with the key focus of developing novel biomaterials from waste streams. This talk will explore Arda’s entrepreneurial journey, their biomaterial’s (elastic) properties, and the challenges of innovation.

Kresse Wesling CBE: Luxury accessories made from decommissioned fire-hose

Luxury accessories made from decommissioned fire-hose. (with the longer bit as - Kresse will explain how they built a brand around the rescue of materials, including nitrile rubber hoses, and donation to charity partners).