These scientists are keeping fashion waste out of landfill by creating liquid pigment | ABC News

For the past five years, scientists at the university's Institute for Frontier Materials have been trialling different methods to figure out the best way to recycle Australia's growing textile waste.

Now, they think they've found a way.

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"What we've discovered is that we can take waste textiles and grind them up into really fine particles, which we can then use as a pigment to re-dye new textiles," Emma Prime, Deakin University's strategic research manager, said.

The scientists use existing mill machinery from agriculture and mining industries to crush fabric into what looks like fluff.

That material then goes into another machine that grinds it into a liquid using water.

The liquid can then be dried into a pigment paste, clay, or powder. Pigment is used to colour paint, plastic, and dye in clothing, but is often made from petrochemicals.

Six artists from around Victoria were given samples of the powder to use as paint, including multi-media Indigenous artist Kiri Tawhai.

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