STOCKHOLM – A new project in Sweden aims to solve the problem of separating nylon and elastane yarns, which has dogged the recycled textile industry for many years. In products such as women’s hosiery, nylon fibre is often wrapped around an elastane core during yarn preparation prior to knitting, and as such is virtually impossible to separate back into the respective fibres for recycling.
The new project has been set up in a bid to improve recycling rates from textiles and clothing made with nylon and elastane blends, and hopes these separated fibres can then be fed back into a closed loop system for upcycling into new textiles and clothing.