In recent years, more companies have chosen to use alternative materials in production to support a more sustainable supply chain. One example is French eco-startup Fabrick, which produces bricks from textile waste.
The brainchild of architect Clarisee Merlet, Fabrick was established in 2019 in a quest to find alternative construction methods. Her journey led her to explore the potential of waste materials such as plastic bottles, cardboard, and, finally, textile waste.
Merlet’s research highlighted the mismanagement of waste in the textile industry, sparking the idea that these materials could be repurposed for the construction sector. She discovered that cotton, in particular, possesses acoustic and thermal properties, laying the foundation for its development.
“Being an architecture student made me look for ways to build differently,” she explained.
“So I made different prototypes with different ecological glues and tried different ways of putting the textile in the mould to compress it. Eventually, I came up with a prototype that held up well, reacted well to fire, and held up against moisture, too.”
Each brick undergoes a meticulous production process, starting with discarded clothes being sorted by colour in a Parisian studio. Notably, the company said it refrains from conventional dyeing methods, relying on the inherent colours of the textiles themselves.
The textiles then undergo shredding to produce fibres in three distinct shapes – 7mm, 20mm, and 40mm – chosen based on each project’s unique requirements. A crucial phase introduces the crafting of 100 per cent ecological glue, mixed by hand with the fibres to ensure uniform density in each resulting brick.
The process continues with manually incorporating the glue-fibre mixture into a patented machine, activating a 30-minute compression process within the mould. Post-production, the bricks undergo a patient drying period of 10 to 15 days in ambient air.
Due to their acoustic and thermal insulation properties, these bricks have begun to be produced with the hope of becoming an alternative building material, as well as being used as interior wall separators and wall cladding. Its use as a structural material is still in the development stage.
Merlet envisions a global impact for the company, stating, “Fabrick can be developed worldwide because fast fashion is everywhere, so we can always be close to a source of textile waste.”
