How PET Coating is Changing the Polyester Recycling Game

Did you know that purchasing a backpack made from recycled bottles does not contribute to a circular economy? 

The plastic bottle industry (e.g., soft drink) and the textile industry are two distinct entities. When plastic bottles are transformed into recycled polyester (rPET), they will never revert to being bottles again, nor will they likely become anything else. However, if that same used plastic bottle were repurposed into a new recycled plastic bottle, it could be recycled repeatedly.

This is why the textile industry needs to break-up with plastic bottles. It’s time we utilize our own waste feedstock to produce recycled materials. This process is called textile-to-textile recycling.

Ok, great- let’s do that.

Of course, textile-to-textile recycling is not as simple as it sounds. Plastic bottles are easy to recycle and yield high-quality yarns. Used textiles, however, are full of contaminants that make recycling a very difficult task. Currently, only about 0.1% of textiles are recycled.

A material is most easily recyclable when it consists entirely of one substance. Textiles, however, are frequently blended together (such as polyester/cotton, polyester/nylon, polyester/spandex, polyester/wool) to produce high-performance fabrics. These blends pose significant challenges during the recycling process, as separating them becomes very difficult.

Even when the base fabric is 100% polyester, it is often coated or treated with another type of material. For instance, virtually all pack and bag materials are coated with substances like PU, TPU, silicone, or others to enhance durability and waterproofness. Unfortunately, these coatings often render the fabric unrecyclable.

ReCirX²: PET coating

PolyCore’s team of material scientists has developed a novel coating for pack and bag fabrics: PET coating. This innovative coating is named ReCirX² (pronounced Re-Circ).

ReCirX² can be applied to polyester fabric to enhance its abrasion resistance, tear strength, and hydrostatic resistance. Since polyester itself is PET plastic, there is no need to separate the coating for textile-to-textile recycling. This is a concept known as mono-materiality.

Polyester coated with ReCirX² is designed to be compatible with current recycling systems. Within a few years, we hope that ReCirX² will be every textile recycler’s favorite material.

The Path Ahead

Textile-to-textile recycling needs a lot more work, but we’re getting closer to the finish line. Innovative companies such as Ambercycle, Unifi, Cyclone, and others are working hard to scale up recycling technologies. Innovative materials such as ReCirX² will make that process easier.

Read the Textile Exchange’s latest report on The Future of Synthetics to understand the different types of textile recycling and why it is our best chance at reducing the impact of the textile industry.