Mixed textile waste yields high-purity monomer

ZHEJIANG – Researchers in China have developed a chemical recycling process they say can selectively break down the polyester in mixed textile waste into high-purity monomer, at a cost well below the market price of virgin monomer.

In a new paper published today in Nature Communications, a team from Zhejiang University and Qingdao University report recovering dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) at 99.92% purity from a ‘blind sample’ of industrially collected post-consumer textile waste.