Textile-to-Textile (Fibre-to-Fibre) Recycling
topic
Textile-to-textile recycling faces major challenges absent from bottle-to-fibre: colour (dyes in fibre resist depolymerisation), blends (PET/cotton blends require separation: solvent fractionation, selective hydrolysis of cotton cellulose with HCl or enzymatic treatment), mixed polymers (PET/PA, PET/elastane). Mechanical textile recycling: shredding to staple (downgrades fibre length/properties). Chemical routes: selective glycolysis in DMF can separate PET/cotton blends. Sorting technology: hyperspectral NIR, RFID fibre tagging, digital product passport.
Role
Fibre-to-fibre recycling of polyester textiles is the defining unsolved challenge of textile circular economy. Its complexity — blends, dyes, contamination — requires interdisciplinary solutions spanning chemistry, sorting technology, policy, and product design.