Fibre innovations aid the creation of circular textile and apparel supply chains

Fibre innovations aid the creation of circular textile and apparel supply chains

For the foreseeable future, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polyester will remain by far the most widely used type of fibre in textile and garment production. As such, the establishment of solid infrastructure for the fibre-to-fibre recycling of PET is critical. Already, some work is under way to scale up a fibre-to-fibre recycled PET (FFrPET) industry, and some companies are making major investments in recycling facilities and related recycling projects. These companies include: Andritz Laroche; Ambercycle; Carbios; Eastman; Inditex; Indorama; Loop Industries; SK Geo Centric (SKGC); and Suez. At the same time, much work is being carried out in order to develop processes for recycling textiles containing elastane fibres, which are difficult to recycle. Meanwhile, in the cellulosic fibre industry, pulp and fibre producers are investing in new capacity. Also, a number of start-up companies based in Scandinavia have developed new fibres based on so-called “next generation” feedstocks and are in the process of constructing and ramping up production in commercial-scale factories.