Revolutionizing Textile Waste Recycling: Carbios Unveils New Machine for Polyester Fiber Preparation

2023-10-02 17:35:02

After the bottles, the only company in the world for biological recycling of PET plastic, unveiled on Monday a machine for preparing polyester fibers with a view to developing the industrial recycling of textile waste.

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“There is a market being created to finally develop the industrial recycling of textile waste,” the general director of this company, Carbios, Emmanuel Ladent, told AFP. “We can no longer allow open-air landfills to pile up where used clothing from industrialized countries is piled up, like the Atacama Desert in South America,” he added during the presentation in Clermont. -Ferrand.

“We bring in t-shirts, ski jackets or other worn sports clothing, the machine shreds it, removes buttons or closures [à glissière] textile waste and produces pieces of 1 to 2 square centimeters, ready to be recycled with our enzymatic process to remanufacture new textile fibers,” explained the director of this French company.

The start-up has invested around one million euros to design, develop and patent this unique demonstration machine, which will be used to validate the textile recycling process, “before moving to industrial scale at the start of 2025, probably in the east of France,” according to Mr. Ladent.

The demonstrator is capable of processing 300 kg of clothing per hour.

On Monday, French Minister of Industry Roland Lescure kicked off the project on the site of a former Michelin factory in Clermont-Ferrand, within the confines of a new “Center for Sustainable Materials”.

Carbios will recycle “textiles which we now know are insufficiently recycled. We have the fast fashionl’ultra fast fashion which from my point of view is way too much fast and not enough fashionso we have to move towards textiles made in France, recycled in France,” declared the minister.

“Polyester textile represents two thirds of PET plastic production in the world,” recalled Mr. Ladent to show the immense potential outlet for innovation.

Carbios has received the support of sportswear brands such as Salomon, On Running and Puma, wishing to create a circular loop to be able to reuse recycled fibers.

By 2030, the European Union intends to set “a minimum content of recycled fibers in the composition of textiles”, according to the Commission website.

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