Several tens of tons of post-consumer, polyester-rich, European textile wastes, sorted and prepared in France, have been processed in the Axens, IFPEN and JEPLAN semi-industrial demonstration unit, located in Japan, to successfully produce the base monomer of a 100% recycled polyester.
This step paves the way for circular polyester loops for the textile industry, in particular sportswear, home furnishings and the luxury sector.
A breakthrough innovation that can be deployed on existing sites
’'Science, scale-up engineering and operational expertise come together to demonstrate the performance of the Rewind® PET process developed by IFPEN, JEPLAN and Axens. Axens and its partners thus demonstrate the robustness, stability and reproducibility of a cutting-edge recycling technology specifically designed to promote the closed loop circularity of textile polyester.'' - Quentin Debuisschert, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Axens.
This innovative process can be advantageously installed at industrial sites around the world that produce polyester for the textile industry, thereby enabling the substitution of fossil-based raw materials with their recycled equivalents.
Markets and deployment model
The technology, already proven and commercialized for recycling all PET packaging, including food-contact applications, is now validated for textile use under an exclusive license granted by IFPEN/JEPLAN to Axens worldwide to any industrial player wishing to develop local or regional textile-to-textile loops.
The PET recycled from this process is intended to be converted into yarn, fabric and then garments, thus completing the textile-to-textile loop for segments such as:
- sportswear and outdoor (heavy consumers of polyester)
- home furnishings (upholstery fabrics, curtains, covers);
- certain luxury applications that incorporate polyester in a controlled manner.
