This week, unifi, a company known for producing recycled materials from waste announced its Textile Takeback initiative: This textile-to-textile infrastructure program is designed to recycle and convert a polyester-based supply chain and post-consumer textile waste REPREVE® – the recycled performance fiber has been used by popular brands such as North Face, Patagonia, Beyond Yoga, Aday, Asics, Vuori and more.

Polyester has become a popular choice worldwide and some say it is the most widely used fiber in the world. Of approximately 90 million tons of textile waste are created and 87% of textiles are thrown away each yearTextile Takeback aims to transform the industry’s take-make-waste model by diverting and recycling textile waste that ends up in landfill into new products.

Eddie Ingle, CEO of Unifi explains it for us.

Chhabra: What is the origin of the Textile Takeback program? When did it start and how much textile waste has already gone through it?

English: The program originally started in 2011 in partnership with Polartec, but this is a new iteration and expansion of the initiative to meet demand from Unifi/REPREVE customers. To date, REPREVE has transformed more than 35 billion plastic bottles.

Chhabra: Can you walk us through the steps taken once you get your hands on the material? Where does it go next? How many steps are required before it becomes Repreve?

English: We work closely with our customer partners to make any material or fabric eligible for textile take-back. Once qualified, the materials are collected and we take them to our recycling centers. The material is shredded, heated and melted so that we can filter and remove contaminants and make a REPREVE resin. We can combine the textile waste with bottle flakes to ensure we achieve the target physical properties needed for the next process: spinning. In the spinning process, the REPREVE resin, made from the Textile Takeback process, is remelted and then formed into staple fiber or filament yarn.

Chhabra: What have been the toughest recycling challenges so far? Is it mainly the different blends that still make it difficult?

English: Fabrics made from more than one type of yarn (or type of material), such as cotton and polyester in the same fabric, are prohibitively expensive for the fabric take-back process. Also, different garments are sometimes used and these items need to be deconstructed, which is a challenge for recycling. We work closely with our customer partners to educate and collaborate on designs for recyclability.

Chhabra: Which materials cannot be recycled and why?

English: Not all materials are suitable for every recycling process or application – we strive to find waste that is not contaminated with other fibres. The Textile Takeback process takes waste polyester textiles and turns them into a usable REPREVE resin. Recycling into REPREVE fiber and yarn is a very critical application. Our filaments are smaller than human hair! Natural materials like cotton can be a big challenge in the process used to make REPREVE because we melt and remove contaminants from waste material – and cotton doesn’t melt.

Chhabra: How will this work globally? How many countries will this be available in?

English: We initially launched our Textile Takeback program in the US, but quickly saw the opportunity to bring in waste from neighboring Central America, an important region for textile production in the Western Hemisphere. With our recent expansion, we have built up the textile take-back supply chain in China. This allows us to provide a solution for textile waste in another important manufacturing epicenter.

Chhabra: Is there a solution to the microplastics criticism of poly-based clothing, both new and recycled?

English: At REPREVE®, we are committed to leading the global shift to a more sustainable future by innovating today, for the well-being of tomorrow. We create REPREVE® recycled textile solutions because we believe in a brighter future where waste is the exception – not the rule. We understand that shedding of fiber fragments can potentially occur during the processing, use and disposal of both natural and synthetic fibers. The risk from microfibers is not limited to textiles, as research shows sources of fiber fragments include car tires, ship coatings, road markings, personal care products and more, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. We believe transparent collaboration is key to building a better understanding and moving forward. We have joined the Microfibre Consortium in partnership to continue working with our industry partners on this important issue. As the world leader in recycled performance fibers, we are always looking for new ways to improve. We will continue to educate and drive sustainable innovation as we work with our partners to create the best-manufactured and consciously designed products available.

Chhabra: Does the recycling process contain waste that we need to consider?

English: We have designed the textile take-back qualification process to ensure that we are working to optimize the applications for specific types of collected textile waste. We only generate a small amount of waste from our textile take-back process when we make chips for our REPREVE yarns, for example when we switch from one product to another or change filters. However, we even recycle that waste back to REPREVE at our REPREVE Recycling Center.