In the United States (US), California's recently enacted extended producer responsibility law SB 707 has prompted sustainable technology company Anellotech Inc., to push its Tex-TCat textile recycling technology to help apparel manufacturers address SB 707 compliance.
The fashion industry produces over 100 billion garments each year. Although the call for circular fashion from both consumers and industries is increasingly urgent, over 90 million tonnes of textile waste still end up in landfills.
While garments made from 100 percent cotton or 100 percent polyester may be recyclable, the incumbent technologies require sophisticated pre-treatment or pre-sorting methods to remove the inevitable impurities likely to be found in textile recycling loops.
Tex-TCat – a breakthrough textile recycling tech
According to Anellotech, its Tex-TCat process is a breakthrough solution that makes recycling of mixed and single fiber textiles – even those containing pigments, dyes, non-metallic buttons, fasteners, and labels – possible.
In addition to processing single fiber textiles, Anellotech’s “Tex-TCat” fluid bed catalytic pyrolysis technology efficiently recycles mixed waste textiles, including (i) cotton/polyester blends, (ii) textiles containing “Lycra”/”Spandex”, and (iii) nylon/polyester blends into textile fiber pre-cursors, including xylene, benzene (used to make caprolactam), ethylene, propylene, and butylene.
These precursors are used today to make virgin polyester and nylon synthetic fibers — providing a closed-loop, fiber-to-fiber solution to today’s textile recycling challenges.
Additionally, the technology involves no incineration or burning of waste feedstock. As previously indicated, lab-scale studies have demonstrated that Tex-TCat can process a variety of common textile materials that are incinerated or landfilled today — including cotton, polyester, nylon, elastane, acrylic, and polyurethane as well as blends of these and other commonly used textile materials.
According to Anellotech, Tex-TCat’s unique features include:
- The ability to recycle synthetic and natural fibers as well as fiber blends directly into valuable chemicals, effectively improving textile recycling economics and lowering global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions;
- A highly scalable technology capable of processing ~200,000 tonnes per year initially.
Address California’s SB 707 producer responsibility
SB 707 is a bill that establishes a statewide extended producer responsibility program for apparel and textile articles in California (CA).
It requires producers to join a producer responsibility organization, submit a plan for collection, recycling, and management, and pay fees to the department.
Tex-TCat has the potential to divert large quantities of previously unrecyclable textiles from landfills and provide major brands, through their existing suppliers, with recycled content. With EPR legislation already passed under California’s SB 707, apparel producers will become more active in recycling efforts. Tex-TCat can be part of the solution, said David Sudolsky, President and CEO of Anellotech.
