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Review
. 2025 Jan 13;30(2):299.
doi: 10.3390/molecules30020299.

The Current State-of-the-Art of the Processes Involved in the Chemical Recycling of Textile Waste

Urbain Nshokano Ndagano  1 , Laura Cahill  1 , Ciara Smullen  2 , Jennifer Gaughran  2 , Susan M Kelleher  1
Affiliations
Review

The Current State-of-the-Art of the Processes Involved in the Chemical Recycling of Textile Waste

Urbain Nshokano Ndagano et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

The textile industry's rapid growth and reliance on synthetic fibres have generated significant environmental pollution, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable waste management practices. Chemical recycling offers a promising pathway to reduce textile waste by converting used fibres into valuable raw materials, yet technical challenges remain due to the complex compositions of textile waste, such as dyes, additives, and blended fabrics.

Keywords: PET; chemical recycling; depolymerisation; elastane; nylon; textiles.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that influenced the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A schematic showing the stages of plastics and textile recycling [35].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chemical recycling routes of synthetic textile waste [35].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Examples of textile additives including disperse dyes, flame retardants, plasticisers, and detergents.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Recycling of polyester and dyes from textile waste [96].
Scheme 1
Scheme 1
Glycolysis of blended PET with carbon dioxide and ammonia [101].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Chemical recycling routes of polymer fibres.
Scheme 2
Scheme 2
Hydrolysis of PET to generate TPA and EG [113].
Scheme 3
Scheme 3
Methanolysis of PET to generate DMT.
Scheme 4
Scheme 4
PET glycolysis to generate BHET.
Scheme 5
Scheme 5
(a,b) Thermal pyrolysis of PET and benzyl acid vinyl ester; (c,d) catalytic steam pyrolysis of PET and TPA [181].
Scheme 6
Scheme 6
Aminolysis of PET.
Scheme 7
Scheme 7
Hydrolysis of (a) polyamide 6 and (b) waste polyamide 6 textiles into their constituent monomers [199].
Scheme 8
Scheme 8
Pyrolysis of nylon 6 to form caprolactam.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Recycling process of nylon and acid dyes from nylon carpets [209].
Figure 7
Figure 7
An isolation of cellulose and recycled nylon 6 fibres from waste nylon/cotton blended fabrics [210].
Scheme 9
Scheme 9
(a) Ammonolysis of nylon 6 and (b) nylon 6.6 fibres [211].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Life cycle assessment of elastane dissolution from textile blends [214].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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