TEXTILES.ORG
Renewable polymers company Avantium of Amsterdam, Netherlands, conducted research and an economic study on poly-cotton chemical hydrolysis recycling, finding a case for textile waste feedstock to create input for its operations compared to fructose or hardwood.
Its method involved superconcentrated hydrochloric acid to produce a glucose solution from the cotton portion of the mixed textiles that is easily separated from the polyester components, “thereby liberating polyester for subsequent closed-loop recycling” and a potentially valuable waste stream, states the study.
The glucose obtained from the cotton in the poly-cotton textiles can be used as feedstock to produce 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), the monomer used to make polyethylene furanoate (PEF), a bio-based alternative to PET.
Avantium makes the plant-based recyclable polymer, branded as Releaf®,from PEF. The company is in the process of starting the first commercial-scale plant to produce FDCA, expanding from its pilot plant.
The study was conducted at the company’s labs and scaled to its pilot biorefinery by doctoral students, including an Avantium employee, from the Industrial Sustainable Chemistry research group of the University of Amsterdam, led by Avantium chief technical officer Gert-Jan M. Gruter. The research was published in Nature Communications Jan. 29.