The project, funded by the Cariplo Foundation within the Circular Economy Program - Promoting Research for a Sustainable Future, aims to evaluate new technologies which, starting from the sericin obtained from raw material of Italian origin with a traceability certification (the cocoon or raw silk), will be able to obtain sericin-based two-dimensional electrospun matrices and new materials based on specifically modified sericin. These products will be characterized from a chemical-physical and morphological point of view and the impact of the introduction of these materials will be analyzed both in the textile industry market and in other sectors with a high technological value. In particular, the advantages of the circular approach will be demonstrated in three demonstration actions:
- Sericin-based face masks for the cosmetic industry
- Three-dimensional sericin scaffolds for cell culture
- Film based on modified sericin for the packaging industry.
RITESSERE aims to demonstrate how sericin can be used to produce high-tech materials. Starting from Italian silk, RITESSERE aims to define and optimize a process to value this waste product, thus defining a new sustainable and circular way for the silk production cycle. The results will be conveyed and made available through continuous interactions with an Advisory Board of actors with a driving role in the silk industry, in defining new circular economy practices and in involving civil society (Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, Donne in Campo, Italian Silk Office, MADE-Competence Center Industry 4.0, Rigano Laboratories, Associazione per il Museo della Seta di Como).
Partners in the project, coordinated by the Politecnico di Milano, are the University of Milan-Bicocca and the Council for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economics Analysis.
