At the current step Ortika is developing a “Process and product innovation" which encompasses almost all the fundamental stages of the production chain. Regarding the "nettle cultivation model" ORTIKA aims to re-establish the tradition of nettle harvest for textile purposes on a medium wide scale, reducing environmental footprint, promote sustainability in the textile industry and encourage biodiversity on the territory. The nettle cultivation model will be implemented by 2020, with the first crop expected in July and, starting from September 2020 the model will also be replicable. The process innovation foresees a cultivation cycle ranging from a min. of 5 to a max. of 7 years where the 1st year is dedicated to planting and the following ones are dedicated to harvest and re-growth. Today Ortika has already 35 hectares available in the Modena Apennines and they expect to reach 100 hectares by 2022. Furthermore, ORTIKA wants to create a clone variety (a hybrid) with a higher fiber yield by interbreeding nettle varieties already present on the Apennines territory with the German clone 13, the Roville (France) and local wild nettle, thus creating a brand-new clone native variety with a fiber yield of 20-23%. The enterprise will employ a new machine capable of performing the retting step in less time and with lower consumption and of extracting fiber without using chemical treatments. This machine, developed by Packtin S.r.l. and ORTIKA, is able to complete the retting step using less water, less solvents and in a shortened time. The machine avoids the step in the field and thanks to it, it is possible to get the fiber ready to be spun in less than two hours.
Ortika, conscious of the urgency to reduce the usage of harmful substances, aims at using natural color and fixing agents. The extraction of green color from nettle leaves and the natural fixing colors system are to be implemented, but go in this direction. In this way, ORTIKA collection will be the first to be100% natural. Furthermore, creating an HCE which will emphasize collaboration and sharing of talents. For these purposes, a cooperative company has been created and a CV of talent structure has been drawn.
Concluding, the expected results of the project are: 1 the complete realization of the mentioned cultivation model and 2 the full optimization of the ORTIKA- PACKTIN machine for the fiber extraction process 3 the implementation of a nettle hybrid with a fiber yield of 20-23% and lastly, 4 the implementation of a natural fixative method.
