Chemical recycling: assessing prospects in circular textiles


Shredded PET samples. Image: Depoly


At AMI’s Textile Recycling Expo in June, Industry Consultant Olivia Poole gave a presentation on advancements of chemical recycling for textile waste. Here she provides a summary of her presentation


The waste hierarchy is the foundation of Europe’s waste management system and is defined by the Waste Framework Directive. It has been adopted globally and puts recycling into the context of a wider waste management framework. Within the hierarchy, recycling, whether mechanical or chemical, is ranked below prevention, reduction and reuse, which should be given priority. Textiles have a large market for resale


and reuse, much more than any other plastic application. This includes second- hand shops, vintage and upcycled clothing, as well as charity donations. The general consensus is that these markets should be prioritised over the recycling and disposal of textiles that could have a second life. However, if items are not suitable for


re-use, they should be diverted for recycling. There has been a precedent for exploiting


the re-wear system with exports of second-hand clothing, often of low quality, to countries with less developed waste management systems, where what is not sold on is mismanaged, with grave ecological and environmental consequences.


Current recycling According to Textile Exchange, of the 124 million tonnes of fibre produced in 2023, less than 1% can be recycled back into new textile applications globally. This is defined as closed-loop recycling, the most valuable pathway for sustainability, where materials are recycled into new materials of the same quality, and so can have the same applications. However, the majority of end-of-life


clothing goes to incineration, with low collection rates for recycling, a lack of standards for sorting and recyclate, and


limited demand for product, all creating challenges. A small proportion of textiles is recycled in an open loop, into a different product of lower value, which is often discarded at its end-of-life. While open-loop processes extend the use of materials, they do not provide a truly circular solution for plastic or textile waste. Mechanical recycling of fibres, while


possible, shortens the fibre length, and so the output is often not of a quality suitable for new textile applications unless it is mixed with virgin materials. While there is a precedence for


mechanical recycling that is universally accepted for plastic waste, for textiles it seems that closed-loop recycling back to textile applications can predominantly only be achieved with alternative technologies, such as chemical recycling.


Available technologies There are several technologies that sit under the term “chemical recycling”, all of which have different operating conditions, input feedstock, and outputs. For context, mechanical recycling is a physical process that maintains the polymer structure and compound. Here, waste plastic is sorted,


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