Taking a Systems Approach to Sustainability Research at NC State

At age 19, Professor Karen Leonas altered the course of her life when she took a fiber science course at Purdue University. 

She immediately fell in love with the class. So much so, in fact, that she found herself looking for a university where she could immerse herself in the world of production and processing. She found that at the then-College of Textiles at NC State. 

“There was just something about the textiles and the understanding of it that made me realize I really needed to go to a school that had dedicated programs for fiber sciences and not necessarily a concentration within another program,” she remembers.

What about the class impacted her so much that it would make her willing to move across the country to learn more? Leonas says it was the experience of making connections between scientific concepts and really delving into causes and effects. Today, Leonas applies that passion for making connections across disciplines to her research of sustainable textiles. 

“Looking at things as holistic systems, that’s something that I think is a little bit different about some of the research I do, versus other people in academia,” Leonas explains. They’re really drilling down, which is great, we need that, but I’m looking more at what we can do to impact sustainability using an interdisciplinary approach that focuses on the drivers of sustainability.” 

In her time as a researcher at the University of Illinois, the University of Georgia, Washington State University, and, now, her alma mater, Leonas has studied everything from degradation rates to consumer preferences. One of her current projects tackles one of the biggest textile-related issues in sustainability: the push toward a circular economy. 

Advancing the Circular Economy

The next step towards a greener textile industry is developing a circular economy, where post-consumer textiles can be recycled into new raw materials for other products. Professor Leonas is at the forefront of this movement, making some of the first public calls for circularity among researchers. 

Beyond raising awareness, she’s also conducting research in support of the circular economy from multiple angles from the logistics of textile recycling to relevant legislation and consumer perceptions, habits and knowledge.

“I look at the drivers for circularity and the drivers for sustainability, and not just from the industry side, but also the consumer, because we’re in a consumer-centric area. That means determining what consumers are learning and what they’re retaining. I use those findings to determine which solutions consumers are going to respond to in a positive way.” 

Her most notable current work in this area is with the North Carolina Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine. This Engine, funded by the National Science Foundation, seeks to develop innovative materials and sustainable manufacturing processes that will transform the region’s existing textile corridor into a high-tech materials hub that benefits our economy, community and planet. Along with some regional partners, the Wilson College of Textiles is leading the research and development for this program. 

Leonas’ objective is to streamline the processes for textile sorting and recycling, identify the workforce development needed to keep this new business sector running and assess the impact of her colleagues’ sustainability innovations by conducting life cycle analyses. 

“One of the major things my team is looking at right now is how we can apply existing machine learning technology in an innovative way to improve the sorting and recycling process.” 

What’s Next? 

Before she began her research career, Leonas started out in industry as a textile technologist at textile giant Burlington Industries, where she played a role in developing the fabrics going into bulletproof vests, parachutes and even the space shuttle. She says her time in industry has undoubtedly changed the direction and impact of her research. 

“My research is what I would call more applied, meaning I’m focused on solving industry problems , it definitely connects to where we are in the industry today,” she says. “Being in the industry gave me some insight as to how it works. With that knowledge, I’ve had the opportunity to connect with industry pretty well at all levels.” 

She uses those connections to stay involved in the industry through advisory and leadership capacities with The Sustainability Consortium, the Walmart Sustainability Collaboration Board, the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists, and more. It’s a vital symbiotic relationship, she says, that helps inform future directions for her research.

“It gives me an opportunity to hear some of the leaders in the field about the direction that they see things going. We don’t drive the sustainability movement – the industry is driving it. The only way that we can know or project or understand what we need to be doing is to have our pulse on what’s going on and what people are identifying as issues that need to be solved.”

So, where does she see this movement heading next? To a large extent, this will be shaped by the consumer, Leonas says. 

“I think consumers are going to start asking for more transparency and traceability in products that they buy. Most consumers don’t trust the market. That’s what some of my research has shown,” she says. “As Gen Z consumers move into a time in their life where they have more buying power, we’ll find out if they are willing to pay more for things that have been authenticated to be sustainable.”