Professor Kelly Cobb presenting at Thing Tank
Professors Kelly Cobb (Fashion & Apparel Studies) and Kedron Thomas (Anthropology) are part of a team that has received a three-year National Science Foundation grant of $736,893 for their Recycled Textile and Apparel Manufacturing Ecosystems (RETAME) project. Cobb, a 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 Thing Tank Fellow, is the Principal Investigator for the team, and she is joined by current Thing Tank Topic Director Thomas, Huantian Cao (Fashion & Apparel Studies, University of Delaware), and Abigail Clarke-Sather (Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth). The project brings together academic researchers from multiple disciplines with industrial partners, such as Goodwill of Delaware and the University’s Delaware Environmental Institute, to build a sustainable recycled materials model for the textile and apparel industry. By converting post-consumer fashion waste into new products, RETAME keeps clothing out of landfills, generates revenue from existing waste streams, and reduces the need for virgin materials. The overarching goal is to gather proof of concept for a model that can be replicated in regions across the United States and around the world. A full abstract is available on the NSF website. Congratulations to all involved!