Design research seeks new uses for discarded sheep wool

Sheep wool could be put back to use in innovative products by drawing on its natural properties, according to a doctoral thesis defended at the Estonian Academy of Arts and reported by ERR.

Researcher Katrin Kabun writes that wool, once a highly valued textile fibre, is now often treated as waste as sheep farming has shifted towards meat production. Wool quality is no longer a priority, and the fibre is classified as Category 3 animal waste. Producers may bury or burn it to dispose of it cheaply.

Because sheep need to be shorn at least once a year, unused wool continues to accumulate. An estimated 200,000 tonnes go unused in Europe each year, and nearly one million tonnes worldwide.

Wool’s structure and chemical composition give it several useful qualities, Kabun writes. It can remain one to two degrees warmer than its surroundings, absorb moisture while repelling liquids and keeping its surface dry, bind pollutants in the air and help balance indoor humidity.

Kabun argues that bringing wool back into use means more than reviving a traditional material: its value should be reconsidered in light of present-day needs, with its natural properties used to develop more functional products and new applications.