AURAreFIL - Post-consumer textile recycling

More than 260 tons of textiles are collected each year in France (2022 figures from the Refashion activity report), a significant part of which (nearly 190 tons) is sorted. Anything that can be reused is reused. It is then necessary to find the best ways of valorisation for everything that is not reusable. Recycling is one of them.

Before this project, the recycling process developed by Recyc'Elit had been used only on polyester-based plastic waste such as packaging, not on textiles.

Adapt the chemical recycling process developed by Recyc'Elit in order to transform a new feedstock: used non-reusable polyester textiles (pure and mixed) into recycled polyester yarns (closed loop recycling) in the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region.

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Collection and sorting of used non-reusable clothes based on polyester by an association from Grenoble Alpes Métropole then preparation of deposits prior to recycling (removal of hard points and cut into clippings).

Depolymerisation tests by Recyc'Elit in the laboratory and then on pilot.

Polymerisation (via a subcontractor) in order to obtain recycled polyester pellets (rPET).

Spinning (via IFTH) of rPET pellets to obtain a yarn.

rPET yarn from post-consumer waste.