Growing climate beneficial textiles for NHS Scotland

Single use and petrochemical derived textiles are a significant and preventable part of the NHS’s carbon footprint. Locally farmed and produced flax could make a climate beneficial alternative, sequestering 3.7 tonnes of carbon per hectare annually. Linen made from flax is strong, can be washed at high temperatures, reused many times and eventually composted. Growing and processing linen in Scotland could therefore help the NHS reach its Net Zero goals. However, there are currently no machines or infrastructure available in the UK to process the raw flax plants into yarn.
This interdisciplinary research project is collaborating with the Soil Association to trail organic flax farming in Scotland, which has so far had high yields equivalent to 7 tonnes/hectare. We are also designing open-source farm scale flax processing equipment to fill the gap connecting farmers to textile workers, which is currently able to produce yarn for 375gsm fabric.
This presentation will share photos and videos of the farming and machine building progress so far.

Rosie is a part time Engineering & Textiles PhD student at Heriot Watt University, and co-founder of Fantasy Fibre Mill. Her research aims to re-connect regenerative agriculture to ethical fashion, through designing farm scale textile machinery. She is currently growing flax as part of Innovative Farmers Field Lab and building the UK’s only vertically integrated flax processing mill.