ORANGE FIBER: from citrus to fashion
Orange Fiber is a new concept of social innovation, patented in 2014 and made in Italy, born specifically in Sicily. The idea is to create sustainable fabrics through orange fiber, a natural textile fiber derived from the processing waste of citrus peels, fruits of which Sicily is extremely rich.
The orange fiber production process was studied in collaboration with the Polytechnic of Milan, realizing that it was possible to extract cellulose from citrus fruit waste, transforming it into a soft and smooth compostable fiber, like silk.
Source: https://orangefiber.it/it/processo/
The problem identified by Orange Fiber arises on two main aspects: the first is related to the strong environmental impact of the fashion industry both from the point of view of environmental pollution due to the high consumption of water and other synthetic materials, and to produce tons of waste that are thrown into the environment every year. The second concerns the high amount of citrus peels that are produced each year worldwide, in Italy alone the same amounts to about 700 thousand tons per year.
The company tries to make its own contribution to the identified problem, through the production of Orange Fiber, thus using citrus peels, avoiding waste but at the same time making them a way to contribute to a new concept of sustainable fashion, thus also contributing to partially decrease the environmental impact of the fashion industry. In this way Orange Fiber, promotes the circular economy through the conversion of peels into fiber for textiles.
Source: https://orangefiber.it/it/processo/
I believe that Orange Fiber is an important social innovation that can contribute to the well-being of the environment and at the same time ensuring more sustainable fashion, thus also trying to orient consumers to make more responsible choices during their clothing purchasing process. This is also thanks to the collaborations that Orange Fiber has with major fashion brands such as Salvatore Ferragamo.
What I find particularly interesting in this initiative is to combine one of Sicily’s most representative elements such as citrus fruits, enhancing their potential by avoiding their waste and combining them in a way totally unrelated to their origin. This is an initiative that aims to enhance the territory in which we live, including through collaborations with local producers undertaken by the company, turning a waste into something incredible and having a positive impact on the environment.
What Orange Fiber could undertake in the future is to study how other types of organic products can be the basis for creating sustainable fabrics, perhaps also guaranteeing fabrics with different characteristics, thus expanding their offer and always having an impact positive for the environment.
