Recycled polyester needed as polyester dominates garments.

Polyester is projected to emerge a leader of fabrics, accounting for over half of all fiber production by 2030. A report by Textiles Intelligence predicts polyester output will exceed 80 million tons in that year.

To tackle the environmental impact created because of this, the apparel industry is pushing for robust fiber-to-fiber recycled PET polyester (FFrPET) systems. Several large-scale projects are underway.

• Eastman, a material innovation company, is building recycling plants using a method called methanolysis. Their US plant can handle 110,000 tons of polyester annually, with plans to triple capacity by 2026.
• Environmental solutions company Suez and chemical company SK Geo Centric are establishing a PET plastic and fiber recycling plant in France with Loop Industries technology. This facility aims to produce virgin-quality recycled PET at a rate of 70,000 tons per year.
• PET resin company Indorama and biochemistry company Carbios are constructing a plant capable of processing 50,000 tons of post-consumer PET waste each year. Carbios' enzymatic biorecycling process breaks down textile waste into reusable raw materials.
• Process technology company Andritz Group is involved in various recycling projects in France. They're also collaborating to create an industrial-scale sorting and recycling business.
• Spanish fashion conglomerate Inditex has partnered with Ambercycle to build the latter's first large-scale textile regeneration factory. Ambercycle's chemical process breaks down polyester into reusable building blocks for new fibers.

These projects highlight the growing momentum towards a more circular polyester industry within the textile and apparel sector.