A consortium that includes Patagonia and Puma has made high-quality recycled polyester T-shirts from complex textile and plastic waste, an effort which it says can be industrially scaled.
This was announced in a statement by French biochem company Carbios, whose biorecycling technology was used to transform waste into high-performance textiles. Carbios CEO Benoît Grenot said this achievement is proof that enzymatic recycling can meet the “highest standards” in textiles.
“By converting complex waste streams into high purity building blocks for the production of recycled polyester, we are proving that circularity is already an operational reality ready for deployment at industrial scale,” he said.
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Joining Carbios in this effort are Patagonia, Puma, and Salomon, as well as a long list of European industrial partners. In totality, they form the entire textile value chain from polymerization and spinning to knitting, dyeing, and garment manufacturing.
“Carbios has demonstrated that complex PET waste can be recycled into high-quality polyester fibers under existing industrial conditions and repurposed into high-quality products,” said Howard Williams, director global innovation in apparel and accessories at Puma.
It starts with textile waste and complex plastic waste, which Carbios uses to produce monomers with quality and performance standards that can compete with petrochemical-derived materials.
These monomers are then repolymerized by Selenis, a premium copolyester supplier in Portugal, to produce more than one ton of high-quality r-PET under the name EnzyTex, and designed for seamless integration into existing industrial production lines.
The resulting r-PET was converted into yarn on Antex’s industrial production lines in Spain, then knitted into Interlock fabric on Henitex’s industrial equipment in France, dyed in an industrial bath by Teintures et Apprêts Danjoux in France, and finally turned into garments by Chamatex Group in France.
The resulting fibers demonstrated full compatibility with conventional textile manufacturing processes, while delivering performance characteristics, including mechanical strength, dyeability, and color fastness, equivalent to those of virgin polyester.
Manufactured entirely in Europe, this garment demonstrates the scalability of circular textile manufacturing without compromising on quality.
Guillaume Meyzenq, CEO of sportswear manufacturer Salomon, said the production also opens up opportunities for their brand, since it demonstrated the industrial potential of repurposing textile waste.
“The success of this consortium highlights the power of collective intelligence to tackle one of our industry’s most complex challenges,” he said. “By combining our expertise across the entire value chain, we have demonstrated that circularity for high-performance textiles is becoming an industrial reality.”
“Together, we have proven that innovative recycling technologies can transform complex waste into high-quality materials without ever compromising on technical performance. For Salomon, this milestone opens significant opportunities to scale circular solutions and shape a more responsible future for outdoor sports apparel,” he added.
