Nonetheless, the method may very well be tough to scale, says Bryan Vogt, a chemical engineer at Penn State College, who was not concerned within the examine. That’s as a result of the solvent used to interrupt down polyester is pricey and tough to get well after use. Additional, in response to Andini, despite the fact that BHET is definitely turned again into clothes, it’s much less clear what to do with the leftover fibers. Nylon may very well be particularly difficult, as the material is degraded considerably by the group’s chemical recycling approach.
“We’re chemical engineers, so we consider this course of as an entire,” says Andini. “Hopefully, as soon as we’re in a position to get pure parts from every half, we will rework them again into yarn and make garments once more.”
Andini, who simply obtained a fellowship for entrepreneurs, is growing a marketing strategy to commercialize the method. Within the coming years, she goals to launch a startup that may take the garments recycling approach out of the lab and into the true world. That may very well be a major step towards decreasing the massive quantities of textile waste in landfills. “It’ll be a matter of getting the capital or not,” she says, “however we’re engaged on it and excited for it.”
