Carbios announces the successful production of high-quality recycled polyester T-shirts made from complex textile and plastic waste2 on European industrial manufacturing lines, in collaboration with the Fiber-to-Fiber Consortium members: Patagonia, PUMA and Salomon.
This achievement demonstrates the ability of Carbios’ biorecycling technology to transform complex waste streams into high-performance textile products meeting the requirements of every stage of industrial processing.
A European achievment to serve a global textile industry
This achievement is the result of close collaboration between Carbios, the members of the Fiber-to-Fiber Consortium, and European industrial partners spanning the entire textile value chain, from polymerization and spinning to knitting, dyeing, and garment manufacturing.
From complex feedstock to finished garment:
Starting from textile waste3 and complex plastic waste, the Carbios process enabled the production of monomers that meet stringent quality and performance standards, comparable to those of petrochemical-derived materials.
These monomers were then repolymerized by Selenis in Portugal to produce more than one ton of high-quality r-PET, marketed under the name EnzyTex, and designed for seamless integration into existing industrial production lines.
The resulting r-PET was converted into yarn on ANTEX’s industrial production lines in Spain, then knitted into Interlock fabric on Henitex’s industrial equipment in France, dyed in an industrial bath by TAD (Teintures et Apprêts Danjoux) in France, and finally turned into garments by ToptexCube (Chamatex Group) in France, with each step carried out under standard industrial conditions.
The resulting fibers demonstrated full compatibility with conventional textile manufacturing processes, while delivering performance characteristics, including mechanical strength, dyeability, and color fastness, equivalent to those of virgin polyester.
Manufactured entirely in Europe, this garment demonstrates the scalability of circular textile manufacturing without compromising on quality.
“This achievement demonstrates that enzymatic recycling meets the highest standards of the textile industry. By converting complex waste streams into high-purity building blocks for the production of recycled polyester, we are proving that circularity is already an operational reality ready for deployment at industrial scale.” - Benoît Grenot, CEO of Carbios.
“Carbios has demonstrated that complex PET waste can be recycled into high-quality polyester fibers under existing industrial conditions and repurposed into high-quality products.” - Howard Williams, Director Global Innovation Apparel & Accessories at PUMA.
“The success of this Consortium highlights the power of collective intelligence to tackle one of our industry’s most complex challenges. By combining our expertise across the entire value chain, we have demonstrated that circularity for high-performance textiles is becoming an industrial reality. Together, we have proven that innovative recycling technologies can transform complex waste into high-quality materials without ever compromising on technical performance. For Salomon, this milestone opens significant opportunities to scale circular solutions and shape a more responsible future for outdoor sports apparel.” - Guillaume Meyzenq, CEO of Salomon.
