Re:Mix – material recycling of textile blends with nylon and elastane

In a circular economy where discarded materials are recycled in resource efficient manners, also a successful shift of textile waste recovery, from incineration to high quality recycled textile fibers is necessary. It has been identified that blends containing elastane (strong increase on the market, common in stretch jeans and leggings) and nylon are very problematic components in recycling processes. This is where we will pursue a novel biological-based enzyme engineering strategy in concert with thermo-mechanical processes towards selective separation of these blends. This approach will further be implemented in case studies on selected products of high importance for the industrial partners, and the process will be supported by sustainability and cost assessments to ensure the environmental and economical relevance of the recycling scheme. The ambition of the project is to accelerate the shift of the Swedish textile industry towards a circular economy.