Fake wool from slaughterhouse waste: Novel solution or 'creepy?'
Animal activists are trying to unravel the yarn spun by Swiss scientists who are spinning slaughterhouse waste in a possible cashmere replacement.
Wool is big business worldwide, and the effort to create the next softer, better, cheaper version of it has become somewhat of a scientific golden fleece.
However, the head of animal rights group聽People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which offers a 鈥�,鈥� has taken a stand against a product that scientists say will be a boon to the textile industry and those who love, but can鈥檛 afford, soft, high-end, wool products.
Philipp St枚ssel, a 28-year-old PhD student in Professor Wendelin Stark鈥檚聽聽(FML), in Zurich, Switzerland, has created a聽聽from the leftover bones and ligaments of animals that, when converted to gelatin and spun into fibers, can be knitted or woven into a soft wool alternative.
Mr. St枚ssel says in the company鈥檚 release Friday,聽鈥淕elatine consists chiefly of collagen, a main component of skin, bone, and tendons. Large quantities of collagen are found in slaughterhouse waste and can be easily made into gelatin.鈥澛�
鈥淚t's creepy to wear the gelatin that oozes out of animal bones in any form, but even worse, perhaps, than how it must feel psychologically to drape yourself in animal remains is that buying this clothing supports a gruesome industry that inflicts fear and pain on other sentient beings like us," says PETA President聽聽in an exclusive statement released to 海角大神 today.
American textile expert聽, of Los Angeles, Calif., says in an interview that, 鈥淲e have been trying to replicate what comes from nature forever, with varying degrees of success.鈥�
鈥淭here is the notion that if the animal is being used for meat to use all parts of it, which is a Native American sort of respect idea to using the entire animal,鈥� says Ms. Young. 鈥淏ut that really sounds a little gross.鈥�
According to Young it might be more accurate to call this product 鈥渢he new聽, since wool is defined as animal hair only.鈥�
鈥淎zlon [created during WWII] made from skim milk protein (casein) fiber wasn鈥檛 popular because people didn鈥檛 want to wear skim milk,鈥� Young says.聽
The issue with FML fiber is that they are weak when wet, according to FML鈥檚 release which is an aspect the inventor is still working on.
