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AFP
Published
Mar 31, 2015
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Kering and H&M to test recycling technology

By
AFP
Published
Mar 31, 2015

Luxury and sport clothing group Kering, notably the parent company of Puma, and Swedish ready-to-wear giant H&M, will be testing a new textile manufacturing process, developed by start-up Worn Again, using recycled fibres, announced the three companies in a joint press release on Tuesday.

photo AFP

The British start-up has developed a "textile-to-textile chemical recycling technology that is the first of its kind able to separate and extract polyester and cotton from old or end-of-use clothing and textiles."

Once separated, the aim is for this process to enable the 'recaptured' polyester and cellulose from cotton to be spun into new fabric creating a 'circular resource model' for textiles.

This process is entering its final stage of development and will be tested on Puma's and H&M's supply chains this year, the companies said.

It consists of "a solution capable of replacing the use of polyester derived from oil, a non-renewable resource, and with the hope of providing a new and low impact source of raw materials for cellulosic fibres and fabrics."

Above all, this new technology addresses major barriers in textile-to-textile recycling, namely: how to separate blended fibre garments; and how to separate dyes and other contaminants from polyester and cellulose.

In 2014, the global production of polyester filament and cotton fibre was approximately 65 million tonnes. In 2020, the global demand for these fibres is estimated to be 90 million tonnes, according to the press release.


 

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