The enzymatic solutions for end-of-life of plastic and textile polymers developed by France’s pioneer in this area, Carbios, are steadily gaining recognition as potential answers to the need for greater circularity for polyester textiles.
The company has signed a two-year agreement with four major brands - On, Patagonia, PUMA, and Salomon - to develop solutions to promote the recyclability and circularity of their products.
Carbios has developed proprietary biorecycling technology for recycling the polyester (PET) fibres widely used in apparel, footwear and sportswear. PET polyester, of which some 52 million tonnes are produced annually is the most important fibre for the textile industry; more important even than cotton, which trails behind at a scant 23 million tonnes.
The biorecycling process uses an enzyme capable of selectively extracting the polyester, recovering this to recreate a virgin fiber. The technology makes it possible to recover the PET polyester present in all textile waste, mixed and otherwise, that cannot be recycled using traditional technologies.
Under the present agreement, the introduction of this biorecycling technology will be speeded up. As Emmanuel Ladent, CEO at Carbios noted, the consortium model has proven to be very efficient based on the success of the milestones previously achieved in packaging.
“We are very pleased to partner with these prestigious brands,” he said.
The ambitious sustainable development goals of the 4 partner brands combined with looming regulations mandating more circularity in packaging and textile, is making the need to find solutions increasingly urgent. Conventional recycling technologies, which mostly target bottle-to-fiber recycling, are predicted to be unable to be unable to meet the rising demand as these PET bottles will be used to comply with the circularity requirements in the food and beverage industry.
“The partnership with Carbios and their innovative biorecycling methods offer a promising approach to reach our goals and make our industry as a whole more circular,” emphasised Howard Williams, Director Global Innovation Apparel and Accessories at PUMA.
Carbios and the four companies will also research how products can be recycled, develop solutions to take-back worn polyester items, including sorting and dismantling technologies, and gather data on fiber-to-fiber recycling as well as circularity models.
PET plastics and fibres are used to make everyday consumer goods such as bottles, packaging and textiles. Today, most PET is produced from fossil resources, then used and discarded according to a wasteful linear model. By creating a circular economy from used plastics and fibres, Carbios’ biorecycling technology offers a sustainable and more responsible solution.
“Fiber-to-fiber recycling is a key building block in closing the loop within the textile and footwear industry,” said Adrianne Gilbride, Senior Sustainability Manager at On.
“The textile waste problem is bigger than one company or solution, and Patagonia is excited to be working in a new format to solve this problem,” added Natalie Banakis, Materials Innovation Engineer Patagonia.
The goal in joining the consortium is ultimately to establish true circularity within the textile industry, according to Olivier Mouzin, Footwear Sustainability Manager at Salomon.
“Partnering with Carbios—a green chemistry leader offering a bio-recycling process that recycles apparel and footwear materials into thread for new products—better enables us to accomplish this goal,” he concluded.