Anellotech to advance mixed waste textile recycling technology

Anellotech, a sustainable technology company,  intends to start advanced lab testing and scale-up for Tex-TCat™, to address the growing issue of textile waste. The Tex-TCat fluid bed catalytic pyrolysis technology is the first to successfully recycle mixed waste textiles into the same chemical feedstocks (such as benzene, toluene, and xylenes) that are currently used to produce virgin synthetics like polyester and nylon, offering a closed-loop, fiber-to-fiber solution to the problems of textile recycling in the modern world.

Instead of using intermediaries like pyrolysis oil, Tex-TCat provides a direct pathway from mixed textile waste to secondary materials (BTX). Additionally, the method doesn’t burn or incinerate trash as a feedstock. Cotton, polyester, nylon, elastane, acrylic, and polyurethane, as well as mixtures of these and other frequently used textile materials, have all been processed by Tex-TCatTM at the lab scale. These materials are now burned or dumped.

Every year, the fashion business creates 100 billion clothing. Even though there is an urgent need for circular fashion, 92 million tonnes of garbage are dumped in landfills each year. The lack of commercially feasible recycling solutions for low-quality, mixed, and blended textiles, as well as textile mixes, is the cause of this waste.

Tex-TCat is a recycling solution that works in conjunction with mono-fiber clothing as well as any non-recyclable mixes and functional textiles, even if garments made of 100% cotton or polyester can be recycled using legacy technologies. The distinctive qualities of Tex-TCat include: Recycles synthetic and natural fibers and combining them with valuable chemicals to enhance circular economies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale.

The intention is to operate at scale, with the first plant processing around 200,000 tonnes annually and succeeding facilities growing to as much as one million tonnes, depending on the availability of feedstock.

David Sudolsky, president and chief executive officer of Anellotech, said that Tex-TCat has the ability to divert enormous amounts of previously unrecyclable textiles from landfills and give major brands, through their existing suppliers, recycled content. The textile industry’s efforts to become more sustainable “promise to be significantly facilitated by technology.

The next phases in the development program include improving feedstock preparation for effective reactor feeding and conducting additional lab tests that will result in long-term trials in Anellotech’s fully automated 0.5-tonne-per-day process demonstration facility. The business is now looking for forward-thinking businesses to collaborate with them in hastening the development and commercial application of the Tex-TCat technology.