Following a growing number of plastics chemical recycling announcements, the textile industry has joined the bandwagon with the launch of the Alliance of Chemical Textile Recycling (ACTR) on September 29. Plastic-based or synthetic textiles make up about 60% of textiles in Europe, where consumers discard about 5.8 million tonnes of textiles annually, around 11 kg per person.
Accelerating Circularity, a U.S.-based non-profit working to create a circular value chain for textile waste, created the working group to provide the textile industry with a common voice on textile chemical recycling.
The alliance’s founding members including chemical industry representatives Eastman and Lenzing, as well as textile giant The Lycra Company. Other members include Circ, Sappi, Renewcell, Infinited fiber, Worn Again Technologies, Gr3n, CuRe Technology, and OnceMore from Sodra.
“We formed this collective to move chemical recycling technology forward, share common definitions, and address policies in a collaborative way to maximize the elimination of textile waste to landfills and incineration,” explained Karla Magruder, founder and president of Accelerating Circularity.
The alliance’s first act was the publishing of a dictionary of common terms developed to educate the industry on chemical recycling of textiles. It includes, amongst others, definitions of various chemical recycling technologies, as well as definitions of ‘waste’ in different regions of the world.
The ACTR plans to provide the industry with information on how textile chemical recycling can offer solutions for diverting textile waste to landfill; enable textile to textile recycling versus incineration or landfill; provide sustainably sourced circular materials; support brand, retailers, producers in achieving their CO2 reduction targets; and provide long term price stability and consistent supply of raw materials versus virgin.