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Development of an efficient route for combined recycling of PET and cotton from mixed fabrics
Open accessAbstract
Most textile waste is either incinerated or landfilled today, yet, the material could instead be recycled through chemical recycling to new high-quality textiles. A first important step is separation since chemical recycling of textiles requires pure streams. The focus of this paper is on the separation of cotton and PET (poly(ethylene terephthalate), polyester) from mixed textiles, so called polycotton. Polycotton is one of the most common materials in service textiles used in sheets and towels at hospitals and hotels. A straightforward process using 5–15 wt% NaOH in water and temperature in the range between 70 and 90 °C for the hydrolysis of PET was evaluated on the lab-scale. In the process, the PET was degraded to terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG). Three product streams were generated from the process. First is the cotton; second, the TPA; and, third, the filtrate containing EG and the process chemicals. The end products and the extent of PET degradation were characterized using light microscopy, UV-spectroscopy, and ATR FT-IR spectroscopy, as well as solution and solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Furthermore, the cotton cellulose degradation was evaluated by analyzing the intrinsic viscosity of the cotton cellulose. The findings show that with the addition of a phase transfer catalyst (benzyltributylammonium chloride (BTBAC)), PET hydrolysis in 10% NaOH solution at 90 °C can be completed within 40 min. Analysis of the degraded PET with NMR spectroscopy showed that no contaminants remained in the recovered TPA, and that the filtrate mainly contained EG and BTBAC (when added). The yield of the cotton cellulose was high, up to 97%, depending on how long the samples were treated. The findings also showed that the separation can be performed without the phase transfer catalyst; however, this requires longer treatment times, which results in more cellulose degradation.
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“Polymer, oligomer and monomer recycling is, however, hindered by a lack of technologies for sorting and separation into pure enough fractions ( € Ostlund et al., 2015), although there have recently been significant breakthroughs in the separation of cotton/polyester blends (Palme et al., 2017).”
From Environmental impact of textile reuse and recycling – A review (2018) · cites this paper as Palme et al., 2017
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Surface coated cellulose fibres as a biobased alternative to functional synthetic fibres
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Nason, A. K., Jerozal, R. T., Milner, P. J., & Suntivich, J. (2022) · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c05496 · Cited by 21
Baloyi, R. B., Sithole, B. B., & Chunilall, V. (2024) · Polymers · doi:10.3390/polym16111495 · Cited by 19
“…without separating polyester and cotton, as proposed by Zou et al. [4], while the other method involves recovering polyester or cotton individually based on their distinct chemical properties, including dissolution [5–7], hydrothermal separation [8–10], hydrolysis [11,12], and enzymolysis [13,14].”
MethodJain, A., & Connon, S. J. (2025) · Green Chemistry · doi:10.1039/d5gc01183c · Cited by 20
Wawer, J., Panuszko, A., Kozłowski, D., Juniewicz, J., Szymikowski, J., & Brodnicka, E. (2025) · Applied Sciences · doi:10.3390/app15105322 · Cited by 20
A facile approach towards recycling of polyurethane coated PET fabrics
Vaishali, M., Gopal, S., & Sreeram, K. J. (2024) · RSC Sustainability · doi:10.1039/d4su00136b · Cited by 17
Textiles production and end-of-life management options
Bartl, A. (2020) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-817880-5.00010-4 · Cited by 17
Khan, A. A., Iftikhar, K., Saleem, D., & Akhtar, S. (2022) · Journal of Natural Fibers · doi:10.1080/15440478.2022.2095551 · Cited by 18
“The aforementioned uses of polyester fiber and the problems associated with its manufacturing make it imperative to recycle the polyester fiber to curb the adverse environmental effects and meet the ever-increasing demands of the clothing market (Palme et al. 2017).”
BackgroundAnderson, L. B., Molloy, C., Pedrini, L., Martin, I. L., & Connon, S. J. (2024) · Green Chemistry · doi:10.1039/d4gc05070c · Cited by 16
Baloyi, R. B., Sithole, B. B., & Moyo, M. (2025) · Polymer Degradation and Stability · doi:10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2025.111261 · Cited by 16
Nahar, S. S., Rahaman, M. S., Samadder, R., et al. (2022) · Advances in Polymer Technology · doi:10.1155/2022/4325506 · Cited by 16
“Cotton is a natural linear cellulosic fiber that contributes to softness and high-water absorbency [8].”
BackgroundGadkari, R. R., Gupta, A., Teke, U., et al. (2021) · Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.jiec.2021.04.031 · Cited by 16
Textile Recycling’s Hidden Problem: Surface-Modified Fiber Fragments Emitted at Every Stage
Manivannan, A. C., Panneerselvan, L., Kandaiah, R., Ravindran, A., Nachimuthu, G., Conaty, M., & Palanisami, T. (2025) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.5c01854 · Cited by 20
Investigating how the dye colour is impacted when chemically separating polyester-cotton blends
Rosson, L., Wang, X., & Byrne, N. (2023) · Journal of the Textile Institute · doi:10.1080/00405000.2023.2201977 · Cited by 15
“Techniques used have involved either dissolution or depolymerisation of polyester whilst attempting to retain the cotton (Palme et al., 2017; Ling et al., 2019; Motte & Palme, 2019) or cotton dissolution/degradation whilst attempting to retain the polyester (Ouchi et al., 2010; De Silva et al.,…”
BackgroundLi, M., Chen, W., & Chen, S. (2024) · Chemical Engineering Journal · doi:10.1016/j.cej.2024.157778 · Cited by 16
Hou, W., Tunáková, V., Shi, H., et al. (2025) · Polymer Testing · doi:10.1016/j.polymertesting.2025.108874 · Cited by 13
Development and Production of Moderate-Thermophilic PET Hydrolase for PET Bottle and Fiber Recycling
Matsuzaki, T., Saeki, T., Yamazaki, F., et al. (2025) · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.5c01602 · Cited by 13
Hydrolytic-Assisted Fractionation of Textile Waste Containing Cotton and Polyester
Villar, L., Pita, M., González, B., et al. (2024) · Fibers and Polymers · doi:10.1007/s12221-024-00602-8 · Cited by 13
“Two main approaches can be found in literature: removing PET fibers from the textile blend by degradation on its monomers or maintaining PET and promoting cotton separation by its degradation or selective dissolution [4].”
InfluentialCan mixed plastics be recycled and upcycled without separation?
Pang, J. J. M., Lee, Y. H., Zhao, H., Ong, A., & Lim, J. Y. C. (2025) · Green Chemistry · doi:10.1039/d5gc03714j · Cited by 12
A greener approach for physical separation of polycotton textile waste
Khoo, Y. S., Liang, Y. N., Hu, X., et al. (2024) · Journal of environmental chemical engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jece.2024.114281 · Cited by 12
Loshin, A., Samarina, T. O., Vepsäläinen, V., Tervonen, A., & Laatikainen, O. (2025) · Waste Management · doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2025.114966 · Cited by 13
A study on microwave-assisted chemical recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste
Allaf, A. W., Lafi, A. G. A., AL-Zier, A., Ajaya, R., Mougrabiya, M. A., Ali, A. A., & Adriby, S. (2024) · Journal of Polymer Research · doi:10.1007/s10965-024-03883-y · Cited by 11
“The spectra clearly indicated that the targeted recycling products were selectively obtained as all peaks and integrals matched well with the expected results and the spectra were generally very clean indicating no contaminants or by-products [7, 23].”
Pavlopoulou, K. E., Hrůzová, K., Kahoush, M., Kadi, N., Patel, A., Rova, U., Μάτσακας, Λ., & Christakopoulos, P. (2024) · Polymers · doi:10.3390/polym16213008 · Cited by 14
Lamoudan, H., Abenghal, L., Belosinschi, D., Brouillette, F., Dolez, P. I., Panneton, R., & Fonrouge, C. (2024) · Polymers · doi:10.3390/polym16233242 · Cited by 13
Stipanović, H., Koinig, G., Fink, T., et al. (2025) · Recycling · doi:10.3390/recycling10040152 · Cited by 11
Fibre-to-Fibre Recycling in Textiles: Strategies, Limitations and Industrial Perspectives
Silva, A. C., Barreiros, M. P., Azevedo, T., Brás, D. R., Teixeira, M. A., Fangueiro, R. M. E. S., & Ferreira, D. P. (2026) · Textiles · doi:10.3390/textiles6010030 · Cited by 13
Decision-making Algorithm for Waste Recovery Options. Review on Textile Waste Derived Products
Zandberga, A., Kalniņš, S. N., & Gušča, J. (2023) · Environmental and Climate Technologies · doi:10.2478/rtuect-2023-0011 · Cited by 10
An Observation on Dyeing Techniques of Polyester/Cotton Blended Fabrics Using Various Dyes
Hassabo, A. G., Shaker, S., Khaleed, N., et al. (2024) · Journal of Textiles Coloration and Polymer Science · doi:10.21608/jtcps.2023.221101.1209 · Cited by 9
“Polyester adds its excellent durability whereas cotton offers the cloth softness and significant water absorption [33].”
BackgroundSu, H., Wu, Y., Pan, J., et al. (2024) · Process Safety and Environmental Protection · doi:10.1016/j.psep.2024.02.068 · Cited by 9
Depolymerization of Polycotton‐Blended Fabrics: Challenges and Opportunities
Rosini, E., Rocca, J. J. G., Loro, C., Broggini, G., & Pollegioni, L. (2025) · ChemSusChem · doi:10.1002/cssc.202502002 · Cited by 10
“Under these conditions, the PET component was completely degraded, and the cotton fibers were fully recovered, confirming the selective depolymerization of PET in blended textiles [45].”
Circular Economy in the Textile Industry: A Review of Technology, Practice, and Opportunity
Parnell, K., Rolston, A., Hilton, B., et al. (2025) · Recycling · doi:10.3390/recycling10060225 · Cited by 9
Cao, W. Q., Li, Q., & Wu, C. (2021) · e-Polymers · doi:10.1515/epoly-2022-0008 · Cited by 9
Metadata
- Authors
- Palme, A., Peterson, A., de la Motte, H., Theliander, H., & Brelid, H.
- Affiliations
- Chalmers University of Technology (SE)
- Södra Skogsägarna (Sweden) (SE)
- Venue
- Textiles and Clothing Sustainability
- Published
- 2017-02-22
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 2197-9936 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2591428436
- Semantic Scholar
- 4a1bcf8c259373526921c5e098c894c4c4804678
- Cited by
- 155
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 2.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Textiles and Clothing Sustainability (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Chalmers Research (Chalmers University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Diva portal (Dalarna University Library) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Chalmers Publication Library (Chalmers University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- MISTRA
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Polymer crystallization and properties
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Waste Management and Recycling
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Recycling and Waste Management Techniques
- Keywords
- PET hydrolysis, textile recycling, chemical recycling, polyesters, terephthalic acid, ethylene glycol, phase transfer catalyst, NaOH hydrolysis, cellulose degradation, intrinsic viscosity
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