Carbios develops process to recycle PET fibres

23 Mar '18

2 min read

Courtesy: Carbios

Carbios, a pioneer company in bioplasturgy, has taken a new step forward in the development of its enzymatic depolymerisation process rending it applicable to Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polyester fibres from textile waste. This will help the textile industry to use recycled PET fibres that can fully replace those made from fossil resources.

After the successful demonstration that enzymatic depolymerisation applied to PET plastics enables the virtuous cycle of a return to a virgin PET, Carbios opens a new major market by depolymerising 100 per cent PET textile waste fibers into their original monomers: PTA (terephthalic acid) and MEG (mono ethylene glycol).

"Most of textile waste is currently sent to landfills or incinerated and when recycling processes of textile fibres are performed, they are mainly down-cycling, which means a material of lower quality than the original is produced. As Europe and many other countries in the world are struggling to recycle mountains of waste textile, our innovative technology will help turn this major environmental threat into a new opportunity based on circular economy principles and focused on positive society-wide benefits," Carbios said in a press release.

"Turning unwanted polyester textiles into high quality raw materials for new products using Carbios enzymatic technology is an opportunity for completely changing textile manufacturing and trade in Europe and beyond. From a sustainable perspective, our approach will significantly improve the overall life cycle impact of textile products." Alain Marty, chief scientific officer of Carbios, said. (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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