The unit, operated by JEPLAN, used the Rewind PET process developed by Axens, IFPEN, and JEPLAN to recycle materials prepared by Nouvelles Fibres Textile and Mapea in France.
This recycling test occurred at a facility with an annual capacity of 1,000 tonnes (t), where post-consumer textiles from French public collection were converted into BHET, the base monomer used for making new polyester yarns, fabrics, and garments.
A joint statement from the companies stated that the test demonstrates that textile-to-textile (T2T) recycling of post-consumer PET can be achieved at a significant scale with industrial operating conditions.
The recycled polyester produced through this process is intended for use in sportswear, home furnishings such as upholstery and curtains, and selected luxury textile applications.
The project enables circular polyester loops within the industry, facilitating the substitution of fossil-based raw materials by using recycled equivalents at existing polyester production sites worldwide.
The Rewind PET technology has already been commercialised for all PET packaging, including applications requiring food contact.
With this demonstration, the process is now validated for use in textile recycling.
IFPEN and JEPLAN have granted Axens an exclusive worldwide licence to offer the process to industrial players seeking to establish local or regional textile-to-textile loops.
As textile waste volumes continue to rise and textile-to-textile recycling remains limited, the results of this demonstration offer evidence that circular production of polyester from post-consumer textiles is now possible on a significant scale.
The technology allows manufacturers to reduce dependence on virgin materials, integrate into global recycling strategies, and it provides a direct link for reintroducing used textiles back into the value chain, which may impact carbon emissions and costs.
Axens CEO and chairman Quentin Debuisschert said: "Science, scale-up engineering and operational expertise come together to demonstrate the performance of the Rewind PET process developed by IFPEN, JEPLAN and Axens. Axens and its partners thus demonstrate the robustness, stability and reproducibility of a cutting-edge recycling technology specifically designed to promote the closed loop circularity of textile polyester."
