The Italian rustic wool: a case of transformation from waste to sustainable resource

The article presents the particular case of a waste that some Italian projects are trying to transform in a sustainable resource: the great amount of rustic wool (5.000 ton) which is now discarded in Italy every year, with high environmental costs, or exported at very low price, because it constitutes a waste of the systems of ovine production of meat or milk. The rustic wool produced by these particular races of sheep, specialized in meat or milk, is not of enough good quality for the textile industry and for this reason is considered a waste which often is burned by the sheep farmers for avoiding its disposal cost, with further damages for the environment. However in the last years some enterprises and projects are growing with the aim to transform this local rustic wool from waste to sustainable resource, using it for the creation of high intrinsic value clothes, because sustainable for the environment and for the economic system. This paper shows and discusses motivations, structure, activities and first results of the Italian National Research Council Project "Chain of sustainable textiles - Phase II", and in particular of the research group based at the CNR-CERIS of Moncalieri (Turin). This project was born with the aim of experimenting the use of local rustic wools for creation of clothing with a high intrinsic value, implementing a short chain sustainable productive process where handcrafted knowhow and innovation are aimed to improve its social and environmental impact. After a mapping of operators and firms involved in this new and for the moment very small production chain (about 100 subjects along all the chain from sheep-breeding to clothes production), the aim of this paper is to analyses in particular two aspects: a) how concept of environmental, social and economic sustainability is declined, in relation to entire supply chain of textile, from breeding to creation of the garments; b) possible target market, looking at both segments of critical consumption and distinctive practices in the areas of high fashion. The empirical analysis is still in progress and based on interviews with operators, focus-groups with operators and consumers and a questionnaire directed to consumers, administered during events and on-line, with involvement of specific mailing lists and specialized sites.