Good news! More progress on recycling plastic!
"An estimated 34 million tons of [polyester] went into apparel in 2021 ... That makes it the most-used material in clothing.
The petroleum-derived synthetic may also be the ultimate recyclable fiber. Though very little polyester clothing currently gets recycled, the fiber is “a fantastic reversible polymer,” ... Meaning: Old polyester can become as good as new.
Through chemical recycling, old polyester textiles can be broken down on a molecular level, cleansed of contaminants like dyes and waterproof coatings, rebuilt into polyester pellets and respun. The resulting clear yarn is indistinguishable from virgin polyester ...
A collection of startups in the U.S. and Europe want to capitalize on polyester’s knack for bouncing back. Specialists in chemically recycling polyester or poly-cotton-blended textiles, they’ve proven their work in labs and pilot plants over the past five-plus years. ...
There’s investment too. Some startups have recently raised amounts ranging from $27 million to just over $60 million, backed by powerful players such as Zara owner Inditex and Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Together they’re working to help solve a question that has confounded the fashion industry for the past decade: Why can’t we use our mountains of would-be landfill, rather than fossil fuels and other virgin resources, to make new clothes?
‘Chemical Is the Way to Go’
If every garment were 100% polyester, these scientists would have a more straightforward task. But most are blended with other fibers like cotton and Spandex, and many feature waterproof coatings. Also, almost all are dyed.
By adding heat, water, pressure and solvents such as methanol (alcohol) or glycol (another alcohol), chemical recycling frees polyester from other elements in a way that mechanical recycling, its primitive cousin, cannot. ..."
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