ShareTex and Global Bionergies prove chemical production from textiles

We all know that nothing is infinite and, in terms of textile recycling, this means that textile fibers cannot be recycled forever into new fibers. Textile fibers will reach their end-of-life sooner or later (hopefully later, after many uses and recycling), so what happens with them then? Are they doomed to end in an incinerator or a landfill anyway? Can we only delay the inevitable or is there an alternative?

Thanks to our collaboration with Global Bioenergies, we can say that there is an alternative to valorize waste textiles at their end-of-life. Global Bionergies tested our sugar derived from waste textiles as feedstock in their bio-isobutene production and they observed very positive results. Bio-isobutene, which is used as a precursor in the production of cosmetics or aviation fuel, could be obtained with high yield and productivity thanks to the high purity of our sugar. This shows that, once the material needs to leave the textile value chain, it is not doomed but it can have a new life in the form of biobased chemicals. Thus, the chemical industry could become a sink for the carbon contained in textile fibers, creating a more sustainable alternative to valorize the material at its end-of-life than incineration or landfilling.