Living Lab Carpet
Every year, 1,7000,000 m² (~1,200 tonnes) of textile floor coverings are installed in Belgium. After an average lifespan of about 10 years, discarded carpet is usually collected as combustible waste, resulting in high environmental impact and loss of valuable resources.
"Is the quality of collected carpet suitable for reuse, after repair or refurbishing, and what is needed to achieve this?"
The aim of this Living Lab is to establish the framework conditions for reuse, repair and refurbishing business models such as eligible fraction, bottlenecks to be solved through ecodesign, necessary actors, training and logistics chain, among others. Through demonstrators, opportunities will be demonstrated. Moreover, the Living Lab Carpet will pay particular attention to raising awareness.
Project consortium and steering committee
The partnership consists of Centexbel, Designregio Kortrijk, customization company Weerwerk, textile companies Balta and Belysse, Material Mastery, Cobot, Fedustria and Centexbel.
In collaboration with textile designer Leda Devoldere, product and interior designer Cas Moor and partner Material Mastery, various avenues are being explored for the reuse of various carpet forms. Both (post-)production waste, such as cuttings, production errors, surpluses and post-consumer material are thoroughly investigated to give a new circular destination. The different streams being examined range from carpet tiles and broadloom carpet to carpets, bath mats...
Photo by Material Mastery as a result of the co-creation within Carpet with Cas Moor, Leda Devoldere and Designregio.
