Copenhagen chemists develop polyester recycling breakthrough
A group of young chemists at the University of Copenhagen have developed a breakthrough solution to the issue of polyester recycling, which could potentially revolutionize the sustainability of the textile industry. Separating plastic and cotton in a blended fabric has long posed challenges to recycling within the industry.
“The textile industry urgently requires a better solution to handle blended fabrics like polyester/cotton. Currently, there are very few practical methods capable of recycling both cotton and plastic—it's typically an either-or scenario. However, with our newly discovered technique, we can depolymerize polyester into its monomers while simultaneously recovering cotton on a scale of hundreds of grams, using an incredibly straightforward and environmentally friendly approach.
This traceless catalytic methodology could be the game-changer,” explained post-doc Yang Yang of the Jiwoong Lee group at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Chemistry and study lead author.
Currently, this technique has been verified only in the lab, but its potential for larger applications is evident. The scientists are actively engaging with businesses to explore the procedure’s viability at the industrial level.
