Polyester

Polyester is a synthetic fibre derived from petrochemical derivatives. The most common polyester is PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate); it is produced by the polymerisation of ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid monomers. 

The plastic polymer is melted and extruded through dies in order to give it a continuous filament structure and thus create a yarn.

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• Type of fibre : Synthetic fibre (polyethylene terephthalate – PET).
• Global polyester production : 78 million tonnes in 2024
• Position in global production : polyester is the leading fibre produced worldwide, accounting on its own for 59% of global fibre production in 2024. Since the late 2000s, polyester has overtaken cotton as the main fibre in the textile industry. Its global production has been increasing steadily ever since. Nevertheless, according to the characterisation study of incoming and outgoing streams from sorting centers conducted by Refashion in 2023, cotton remains the predominant material in the non-reusable feedstock.

• Share of fossil-based material : 88% of production comes from virgin fossil-based raw materials.
• Share of recycled material : 12% of the polyester produced in 2024 was recycled polyester. This share is slightly down compared with 2023, but the absolute volume increased slightly (from 8.9 to 9.3 million tonnes). In recent years, the absolute volume produced has remained fairly stable, but the share has been decreasing since 2021 due to an increase in the volumes of virgin polyester produced. The vast majority of recycled polyester used in clothing comes from PET bottles (98%).

Polyester is a synthetic fibre with versatile characteristics and low production costs, which explains its dominance in the global textile industry.

Its main properties are as follows:

• Lightweight and tensile strength
• Very low water absorption and quick drying
• Resistance to abrasion, ultraviolet radiation and chemicals
• Easy care (machine washable, crease-resistant)
• Resistance to shrinkage
• Compatibility with many fibre blends (cotton/polyester, polyester/elastane, wool/polyester, etc.)

It is used in a wide variety of textile products:

• Sportswear and performance clothing (jerseys, shorts, outdoor clothing)
• Everyday clothing (T-shirts, fleece pullovers, linings)
• Household linen (bed linen – polycotton sheets, polyester satin, etc.; bathroom linen – towels, microfibre mats, etc.; table linen – tablecloths, cloths, etc.)
• Bags, luggage, technical items
• Technical applications (nonwoven fabrics, padding)

Production process steps

Please note: in the case of thermomechanically recycled polyester, the recycled material enters the production process in the form of pellets, before being melted and then extruded. In the case of chemically recycled polyester, the polyester is depolymerised and the recycled material therefore consists of monomers, which can be introduced at step 2.

Production diagram:

Environmental issues related to production

1. Durability

Polyester is a fibre that, depending on its use and manufacturing process, can offer qualities such as good mechanical strength, low sensitivity to moisture and good resistance to ultraviolet radiation. These properties can enable it to maintain its characteristics over many washing cycles. This durability can help reduce the frequency of product replacement. However, an environmental benefit is only observed if this durability actually translates into a longer product lifespan.

2. Recyclability 8

Polyester can be recycled using several processes :
1. Thermomechanical : asuitable for thermoplastic fibres such as polyester, it consists of shredding and then melting the material before extrusion and granulation. This process makes it possible to obtain a new raw material, but may lead to a gradual degradation of the polymer’s properties over successive cycles. 9 Polyester must be pure to avoid any contamination in the recycled material
2. Chemical : it is based on the depolymerisation (chemical or enzymatic) of PET into monomers, followed by repolymerisation. In theory, it makes it possible to obtain a quality identical to virgin fibre, but remains more expensive and has not yet been deployed at industrial scale. 10
3. Mechanical : polyester textiles can be processed through physical treatments such as shredding (only for textiles suitable for shredding, such as trousers or fleece garments). The outlets are either “open-loop”, i.e. intended for reincorporation into sectors other than textiles (for example, materials for the building sector), or “closed-loop”, i.e. for the textile industry. 11

New chemical recycling technologies are currently being developed and may offer promising solutions, particularly for textiles that are difficult to recycle mechanically, although they are not without certain limitations (high energy consumption, issues relating to material purity, etc.).

3. Incorporation of recycled material 12

Recycled polyester can come from textiles or from other PET objects such as bottles. In both cases, this may involve products that have already been used (post-consumer) or production offcuts (post-production).

The incorporation of recycled polyester into new products raises specific issues of evidence and traceability, distinct from the challenges of recycling as such.

The growth of recycled polyester has significantly increased the use of recycled materials in the textile industry and reduced reliance on virgin fossil resources. Nevertheless, most of the recycled polyester used today still comes from recycled PET bottles (98%) rather than end-of-life textiles.

The “bottle-to-textile” process removes bottles from the closed-loop recycling system in order to recycle them into clothing, causing them to lose their food-grade status. 13 Developing a genuine large-scale textile-to-textile loop for polyester therefore remains a challenge for the sector and is the focus of significant research and development (R&D) efforts.

Available alternative materials 

Bio-based polyester (bio-PET) 14:
Alternative polyester value chains based on renewable raw materials (sugar cane, corn, agricultural residues) are gradually being developed. These bio-polyesters can replace all or part of the petrochemical monomers with bio-based equivalents, thereby reducing the material’s carbon footprint, while still remaining non-biodegradable. Their production remains marginal in volume (0.01% of the total volume of polyester produced in 2025) and costly at large scale.

Textile Exchange – Preferred Fiber & Materials Market Report (annual)

Published annually by Textile Exchange, this report is the sector benchmark for the production volumes of the main textile fibres. For polyester, it tracks the progress of recycled polyesters in the global mix and provides the most up-to-date publicly available market data