Carbios demonstrates commercial textile waste-to-wear recycling

Carbios has demonstrated the conversion of hard-to-recycle textile and plastic waste into high-quality recycled polyester T-shirts through an industrial-scale European value chain. The project was carried out with Fiber-to-Fiber Consortium members Patagonia, PUMA and Salomon, alongside industrial partners across the textile manufacturing process.

The process converts complex waste into high-purity monomers, which are repolymerised by Selenis in Portugal into more than one tonne of recycled PET, marketed as EnzyTex. The material was then spun into yarn by ANTEX in Spain, knitted by Henitex in France, dyed by TAD and manufactured into garments by ToptexCube of the Chamatex Group. Carbios said all stages were completed under standard industrial conditions using existing production lines.

According to Carbios, the resulting recycled polyester demonstrated mechanical strength, dyeability and colour fastness comparable with virgin polyester and was compatible with conventional textile manufacturing processes. The company said the project demonstrates the potential to scale enzymatic recycling for complex textile waste while maintaining the technical performance required for apparel.