INTERVIEW WITH ALVA

Alva is sharing her story about her MSc. Thesis 2023-2024.

HI ALVA!

You are doing your MSc. Thesis, focusing on making luxury packaging materials from discarded post-consumer textiles.

What are you studying, and at which University? 
My name is Alva Hjelm, and I am in my second year of a Master's Program in Resource Recovery of Polymer Materials for the Circular Economy at the University of Borås.  

What attracted you to The Loop Factory? 
The primary reason for reaching out to The Loop Factory was a combination of mutual interests and their
open-minded approach to circularity challenges that I find inspiring.  

What is the purpose of your thesis, and why did you choose that topic?
The aim of my MSc. The thesis is to use discarded post-consumer textiles to make luxury packaging materials. This topic is basically a collection of my previous experiences in textile engineering, packaging and resource recovery.  

What challenges have you faced, and how have you dealt with them?
The most challenging part has been combining the different areas of textile-, polymer- and packaging processing that all have their own standards, terms and modes of evaluation. That is also the part that makes this project exciting: having so many factors to weigh in!
I have been bouncing ideas off my knowledgeable supervisors, who have helped me progress in this project.

What future steps do you plan to take after completing your thesis, and in what way do you want to be involved and contribute to a better world?
My dream would be to continue working with recycling and recovering materials and contribute to a more sustainable society. We all have a responsibility to do the best we can regarding conscious and sustainable choices, and I would like to apply that to my future professional role.  

Thank you, Alva. It’s exciting to explore this topic with you!