Worn Again commissions a new demo plant to showcase its process for turning polycotton textile waste into high‑purity polyester and cellulosic fibres.
WINTERTHUR – Worn Again Technologies has started up a new “Accelerator” plant in Switzerland to demonstrate its chemical textile‑to‑fibre recycling technology at industrial scale, which targets polycotton blends.
The new pilot facility features Worn Again’s proprietary multi‑solvent process, which separates and recovers polyester and cellulose from end‑of‑life textiles while also dealing with dyes and elastane, long considered major barriers for conventional recycling routes.
Back in 2020, Worn Again launched its first pilot plant in Wilton, UK, in a bid to separate, decontaminate and then extract polyester (PET) and cellulose from mixed fabric waste. However, after a series of management changes and challenges with scaling up the technology, it is now situated alongside its scale-up partner Sulzer Chemtech in Winterthur, Switzerland.
According to the company, the process recovers over 95% of solvents used, creating a more resource‑efficient system and delivering high‑purity outputs that can be spun into new textile fibres.
[...]