PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Textiles and footwear consumed by EU citizens in 2017 accounted for around 1.3 tonnes of primary raw material and 104 m3 of water per person (mostly coming from regions outside the EU). The production of textiles can be assumed to generate approx. 35 tonnes of CO2-equivalent per tonne of textile, making textiles consumed within the EU the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when comparing upstream emissions. In addition, chemicals and microplastic used during manufacture are carried into the environment during the use phase or through landfills.
Only 2% of the input material for clothing comes from recycling streams. Most of the recycled polyester in textiles comes from PET-bottles, thanks to the already established and functioning material flow (Ellen MacArthur, 2017). A proper fibre-to-fibre (textile) recycling at an industrial scale only exists for pure material fibre types: mechanical recycling for cotton and single-variety fossil-based fibres such as polyester exists today, and chemical recycling is used for cotton on a commercial level. The first, larger scale plants for the chemical recycling of other cellulose-based fibres have also been built. However, there is currently no technology running on an industrial scale for coloured, blended textile waste.
Since June 2021, Södra and Lenzing have been working on a recycling solution, closing the loop for coloured, blended materials (cotton/polyester) to avoid (the export of) waste, incineration or landfill, and to generate input material for fibre production. In line with the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, the upscaling of this solution will make sizeable contributions, diverting large volumes of coloured, blended textile waste from being downcycled, landfilled or incinerated.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE TREATS project aims to demonstrate an innovative industrial-scale system for the chemical recycling of textile waste. The project will implement a unique process which allows the handling of a wide variety of complex, post-consumer, coloured textiles containing a mix of cotton, polyester and other components such as elastane. The project will pursue an integrative approach involving stakeholders along the entire circular value chain.
The project’s specific objectives are:
Objective 1: To build an industrial scale demonstration plant: the plant will be able to process 50 kilo tonnes per year (kt/a) of blended, postconsumer textile waste, producing 63 kt/a of pulp with 50% recycled content.
Objective 2: Environmental sustainability: the project will focus on optimising the sustainability performance of the demonstration plant and of the recycling system as a whole.
Objective 3: Textile waste supply strategy: an integral part of the project is to secure sufficient raw material (end-of-life textiles) by developing material specifications and building a supplier base.
Objective 4: Catalysing a textile recycling system and preparing to scale and replicate: to pave the way for the scaling and replication of the process, a blueprint for a 100 kt/a plant with 100% recycled content will be finalised, based on the data and insights from operating the demonstrator plant.
RESULTS
The expected results of the project are:
Treatment of 50 kt/a of coloured, blended, post-consumer textile waste upon plant completion.
Producing 63 kt/a of pulp with 50% recycled content upon plant completion.
Decrease in chemical use of 23% compared to the currently-used wood-based fibre without recycled content.
Decrease in GHG emissions by 7.9% compared to wood-based fibre without recycled content.
Decrease in energy consumption by 13% compared to wood-based fibre without recycled content.
Decrease in water consumption by 0.74% compared to wood-based fibre without recycled content
