BioSusTex celebrates new publication on safer and more circular textile printing
- Mar 23
- 4 min read
BioSusTex is proud to celebrate a new research publication that adds an important perspective to the project’s work on safe and sustainable textile innovation. Published on 19 March 2026, the paper “Early-Stage Simplified SSbD Screening of a Removable, PVC-Free Screen-Printing Ink: A Qualitative Life Cycle Perspective”, published in Sustainability, presents a qualitative sustainability assessment of an innovative textile printing ink designed to help address some of the environmental and circularity challenges associated with conventional PVC-based screen-printing inks.
The publication brings together researchers from IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Chalmers University of Technology, and Vividye AB. This broad collaboration reflects the kind of cross-sector knowledge-building that BioSusTex aims to support: connecting research, sustainability assessment and innovation development to help move promising ideas closer to practical application.
At the centre of the study is a novel water-based, partially bio-based, and potentially removable PVC-free screen-printing ink. The ink has been designed as an alternative to conventional plastisol inks, which are widely used in textile printing but are associated with significant health, environmental and end-of-life challenges. The paper explains that conventional PVC-based inks can create barriers to textile recycling because the print layer is difficult to separate from the textile substrate, reducing fibre quality and complicating both mechanical and chemical recycling.
The new study is especially relevant because it does not simply ask whether a new ink can replace an older one. It looks more broadly at how a new formulation might perform from a Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) perspective, taking into account environmental, economic and social dimensions across the product life cycle. Because the innovation is still at an early stage and detailed industrial-scale data are not yet available, the authors used a simplified screening approach based on the LCBROM methodology and a MET+Ec+S matrix to identify potential risks, opportunities and uncertainties. The authors are clear that the goal is not to prove environmental superiority at this stage, but to identify sustainability hotspots and guide further development and data generation.
The findings are encouraging. The screening suggests that the removable PVC-free ink may offer important sustainability advantages over conventional PVC-based plastisol inks, particularly through a reduced hazard profile and improved compatibility with textile recycling systems due to its removability. The formulation uses bio-based pigments, thickeners and plasticisers, and the removal formulation is described as biodegradable and reusable. The study also highlights that the ink can function as a drop-in solution compatible with existing screen-printing equipment, which is important because it could lower barriers to industrial adoption.
One of the most interesting aspects of the paper is its connection to circular textiles. The removability feature is not treated only as a technical curiosity, but as a potential recycling enabler. According to the screening, removing the print before recycling could help reduce print contamination, support higher recycling and reuse rates and make it easier to recover textile materials that might otherwise be lost from the system. In this sense, the study speaks directly to the BioSusTex ambition of supporting textile solutions that are not only safer, but also more compatible with circular value chains.
At the same time, the paper takes a careful and credible view of the remaining challenges. The current formulation still relies on a fossil-based acrylic latex as its main binder, even though other components are bio-based. Replacing this binder is identified as an important next step for achieving a fully bio-based and potentially compostable formulation. The study also points to several open questions that require further work, including long-term durability and wash resistance, industrial-scale energy demand, wastewater management during ink removal, possible polymer fragmentation and microplastic release and the feasibility of integrating removal processes into large-scale recycling infrastructure.
This makes the publication especially valuable for BioSusTex. Rather than claiming to have solved the challenge, the paper helps define a structured pathway for moving forward. It shows how early-stage sustainability screening can support responsible innovation by identifying risks and trade-offs early, before unsustainable choices become locked in through scale-up and investment. It also demonstrates how SSbD thinking can be applied in practice to textile-related material innovation, even when data are still limited.
For the field, the paper offers a useful framework for thinking about textile printing technologies not only in terms of performance, but also in terms of circularity, safety and system-level sustainability. For industry, it points to a promising direction for reducing dependence on PVC-based inks while keeping compatibility with existing printing infrastructure. For the broader public, it offers a hopeful example of how textile innovation can be steered toward safer materials, better recycling outcomes, and more responsible design choices from the outset.
We warmly congratulate the authors and all partners involved in this achievement. This publication is an important milestone for BioSusTex and a strong example of how collaborative research can help build the scientific foundation for more sustainable and circular textile systems.
You can access the article here: