Circular recycling of polyester and polyurethane textile waste blends for a non-toxic environment

Research Project, 2021 – 2024

One of the problems created by fast fashion is the large volume of textile waste being created today.  Mixed textile waste is difficult to recycle and is typically burnt in Sweden.  At the same time, the production of new fibres causes extensive environmental impacts.  Faced with these problems, fibre, polymeric or even monomeric recycling processes are of interest.  Fibre recycling is usually a physical process that results in shorter fibre lengths over time, an issue that may be avoided with monomeric recycling using chemical processes.

This project is a collaboration between the Division of Environmental Systems Analysis at Chalmers University of Technology, and the Division of Materials and Production at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden.  Industrial chemists at RISE are developing pathways for handling mixed polyester/polyurethane waste streams while environmental systems analysts at Chalmers are working to assess their relative environmental merits.  So the project is a fusion of expertise in organic chemistry laboratory work, chemical engineering modelling and quantitative environmental assessment.  The project will present results at the SETAC Europe 26th LCA Symposium in Gothenburg in October 2024.