In a new study, scientists have discovered a method of processing fabric into reusable materials. This process works well on synthetic fabrics and products consisting of many different materials.
Much of recycling used to be about sorting fashion waste into raw materials. However, this method is not suitable for processing textiles. Many different materials such as cotton and polyester synthetic fibers are combined to create industrial fabrics. Fabrics woven from multiple fiber compositions are difficult to sort into raw materials that can be reused by mechanical recycling processes.
Chemical recycling can breathe new life into old clothes while saving time on sorting. However, according to Dionisios Vlachos, an engineer at the University of Delaware in Newark, the quality of the finished product after recycling will be lower than the original material.
Researchers have separated the components of synthetic fabrics using a chemical process called glycolysis that uses heat similar to microwaves and catalysts to separate the fabric. fibers into smaller pieces.
This method has been successfully tested on fabrics with different compositions, such as synthetic fibers: 50/50 cotton, other blends of polyester and cotton or 100% polyester.
The reaction converted 90% of the polyester in the 100% synthetic fabric into a molecule called BHET. This molecule can be recycled straight into polyester fabric. After the research process, the results obtained showed that it is possible to completely convert polyester and recover cotton in materials containing both polyester and cotton. Most importantly, the team reduced the reaction conditions to the point where the process only required 15 minutes, thus greatly reducing costs.
The team hopes to develop the process further and scale it up to process larger quantities of used clothing. Vlachos and his colleagues calculate that 88% of the world's clothing could be recycled with additional modifications once the process is perfected.
