Jersey shows polyester fibre-to-fibre recycling is possible
Performance polymer producer Radici has worked with a sportswear manufacturer in Italy, Sportstex, to test an idea for polyester fibre-to-fibre recycling.
Radici said the two companies had begun discussing the idea because they shared a desire to find a way of using polyester textile waste from products such as shirts for football, volleyball and other sports.
They began working with Pure Loop, a division of Austrian group Erema, which specialises in equipment for recycling.
Research and development teams from the three companies worked together to determine the best way to achieve their polyester fibre-to-fibre goal, carrying out various tests before arriving at a product with good technical properties.
Initial success came from a mixed recovery technique, dosing granules from recycled bottles with polyester granules from recycled fabrics. They gradually fine-tuned the processes to achieve in the end a yarn 100% derived from recovered textile waste.
Once scaled-up, the system will make it possible to produce recycled polyester garments that, at the end of their life, can be recovered again, Radici said.
Cycling brand Shimano was the first company to embrace the project and put its brand name on the first garment, a cycling jersey, to come from it. The partners put this cycling jersey on display at ITMA in Milan in mid-June.
