Closed-loop recycling of wool/synthetic blend textiles into high-end textile fibres

Purpose and goal:

By developing technical methods for 1) chemical separation and recycling of textile material blends containing both wool and synthetic fibres, and 2) fibre spinning using the recycled wool and synthetic materials this project aims to increase the circular use of materials in textile industry. Expected results and effects:

The expected outcomes from this project are new technical methods for chemical recycling of blend textiles and fiber spinning of recycled textile materials. These methods are expected to lead to an increased use of recycled raw materials in the textile industry and increased incentives for the collection of both production waste and used textiles, which in turn contributes to an increased resource efficiency and a reduced dependence on finite resources such as oil.

Approach and implementation:

This project will start with a practical survey of the available raw materials, i.e. waste and recycled textiles, collected by industrial partners. With a continued focus on the most common wool / synthetic blends, experiments are then carried out to separate wool and synthetic fibers, and spin each component into new fibers using processes for both wet spinning and melt spinning. The project also includes developing a business plan for future upscaling and implementation of the technology.