E. Terreni, T. Eam Feinberg, A. Nebipasagil, B. McGarrah, S. Pena Feliz, J-G. Rosenboom
MacroCycle Technologies,
United States
Keywords: textile recycling, polyester, energy efficiency, impurity removal, circularity
Summary:
Today, the vast majority of “recycled polyester” used in textiles comes from downcycling PET bottles. At the same time, actual textile-to-textile recycling is less than 1% today due to the fact that textile waste is a blended multimaterial mixture mostly containing polyester, cotton, elastane and other fibers, bearing zippers and buttons made from other materials. MacroCycle is an MIT startup company that commercializes low-cost, high-value recycled polyester from mixed textile wastes using a novel green chemistry upcycling process. SolvoGenesis™ is MacroCycle’s advanced recycling technology that converts mixed polyester textile waste back into virgin-quality polyester, enabling true textile-to-textile circularity. Through highly selective, FDA-approved chemistries based on macrocyclic theories, the process is able to remove dyes and impurities while directly upgrading the polymer chain length back to the virgin-grade polyester (PET) state. In contrast to incumbent chemical recycling technologies that rely on depolymerization into small molecule monomers, SolvoGenesis does not require polymer breakdown and technoeconomic analysis shows an 80% lower energy demand compared with traditional polyester production. Through highly selective, FDA-approved chemistries based on macrocyclic theories, the process is able to remove dyes and impurities while directly upgrading the polymer chain length back to the virgin-grade polyester (PET) state. This is a process that can greatly reduce energy demand for polyester manufacturing, lower emissions and unlock mixed textile wastes as the sole feedstock for the billion-dollar textile industry. Where currently 99% of all textiles (after ~15% second-hand rewear) are landfilled or incinerated, this technology will reduce landfill waste and incineration emissions for municipal communities across the U.S. and the world.