Thermo-mechanical recycling of PET
Textile-to-textile recycling. Recycling post-consumer PET from various waste streams and application back into textiles.
What was achieved and what that learned
Production of granulate ready for yarn extrusion and the production of yarns from these granules. What we learned is that the waste stream needs to as pure as possible. Contaminants are challenging to remove with filtration and cause more difficult processing.
Different steps are needed to go from waste to granulate: removing hard parts, shredding, compacting, pelletization/filtration and SSP (IV boost) to reach the right viscosity of the PET material. As a last step these granulates are used in melt extrusion.
Future visions
Future work will focus on improving tolerance to mixed and contaminated waste streams, optimizing filtration and viscosity restoration, and increasing the share of recycled textile waste that can be converted into high-quality textile-grade yarns.