'A world first': project recycles polyester into yarn for new clothes

Football shirts, sports event banners and uniforms are piled up ready to be pumped into a machine which melts them down for recycling ready to be made into new clothes.

In a world first in Kettering, Northamptonshire, Project Re:claim is taking technology used for recycling plastic bottles and adapting it to reprocess polyester textiles into granules that can be turned back into yarn for new clothes.

The joint venture between the Salvation Army and recycling specialist Project Plan B uses items from the charity’s sorting centre, which separates out the 10-20% of donated items that cannot be resold according to type of textile. Infrared sensors pick out wool, cotton and nylon items that can be sent off to experimental reprocessors and yarn makers around the world – including polyester for the pellet-making machine.

Project Re:claim expects to recycle 2,500 tonnes of waste this year and to double that in 2025. It is working with big retailers, including Tesco and John Lewis, as well as specialist manufacturers such as school uniform maker David Luke, which encourage suppliers to use the recycled polyester.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/11/a-world-first-project-recycles-polyester-into-yarn-for-new-clothes

On a smaller scale, I have friends who belong to a knitting group that unravels old sweaters and reuses the yarn to make mittens and hats for the homeless, for children of abused women, etc.