The Brewery - a biological method to recycle garments

This project is part of the Recycling Revolution program, and explores a biological method to recycle blend textiles.

Karolina Fabó
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Even though blend textiles makes up the majority of the clothes we wear, there is no method available today on how to recycle these garments at scale. In our program with HKRITA, we are exploring different recycling methods, with the goal to find at least one method that can be scaled up and used widely by the industry.

With the biological method, we want to use low energy and low impact methods to effectively recycle used materials. The method consists of four steps:

  • Pre-treatment to modify the structure of the textile waste
  • Bio reactor process
  • Liquified glucose is generated from the cotton
  • The polyester is separated and respun into reusable yarn

The research project is currently being undertaken at HKRITA’s lab in Hong Kong.

  • Partners: HKRITA

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