PURE-TEX

PURE-TEX: Purifying end-of-life textiles through selective elastane removal for polyester recycling

Most clothing today contains elastane, the stretchy fibre that makes garments comfortable. But this same fibre is one of the biggest obstacles to textile recycling: even small amounts disrupt recycling processes and lower the quality of the recycled material. As a result, the vast majority of Europe's textile waste is still incinerated or landfilled. The PURE-TEX project brings together companies from Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany to solve this problem. Recytex Europe (Liège) will sort and classify real textile waste using smart fibre-scanning technology, Purtiso (Geleen) will remove the elastane with its newly developed chemical process while preserving the quality of the remaining fibres, and Re.solution (Aachen) will recycle the cleaned polyester into virgin-quality raw materials for new textiles. By demonstrating this complete chain on real waste from the region, the project shows how the Meuse-Rhine region can turn a growing waste problem into a new circular industry, creating jobs and reducing CO₂ emissions along the way.

Contact
Niels Van Velthoven
niels.vanvelthoven@purtiso.com