Project “Development of innovative protective nonwovens with the addition of feathers” (EkoPiórka), co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund under Measure 4.1 of the Intelligent Development Operational Program 2014-2020, was awarded by the Indian Innovators Association and received the Gold Medal from the National Research Council of Thailand.

The project is implemented by a consortium led by Łukasiewicz – Institute of Biopolymers and Chemical Fibers in Łódź. The consortium also includes Agricultural University of Kraków, CEDROB SA, Zakład Drobiarski Niepołomice and Poltops sp.z o.o.

The main goal of the EkoPiórka project was to create a concept for waste management from poultry slaughterhouses, which would be desirable from the point of view of economics and social effects. The project envisaged the development and production of two groups of ecological textiles with the addition of keratin fibers from feathers.