Carbios launches biorecycled T-shirt

France-based Carbios, a user of biological technologies to recycle plastic and textiles, and its fiber-to-fiber consortium partners On, Patagonia, Puma, Salomon and PVH Corp. have launched an enzymatically recycled polyester garment made from discarded textiles using Carbios’ biorecycling technology.

According to Carbios, this achievement marks a milestone for the consortium’s ultimate goal of facilitating a fiber-to-fiber closed loop using the Carbios biorecycling process at an industrial scale.

The garment, a white t-shirt, was deliberately designed to showcase the technology that made its production possible from mixed and multicolored end-of-life textiles, the company says.

“It may look like an ordinary t-shirt, but make no mistake, the technology behind it is extraordinary,” Carbios CEO Emmanuel Ladent says. “To achieve ‘fiber-to-fiber’ recycling is a technological feat. Carbios couldn’t have done it alone, so thanks to the collaboration with our consortium partners, we have overcome many technical hurdles together to produce the world’s first enzymatically recycled t-shirt made entirely from biorecycled fibers.”

Through Carbios’ biorecycling technology, polyester is broken down using enzymes into its fundamental building blocks, which are reformed to produce biorecycled polyester. The company says the material’s quality is on par with oil-based virgin polyester.

To begin producing the t-shirt, all consortium members supplied rolls and production cutting scraps to Carbios. This textile scrap consisted of cotton or elastane mixed blends, as well as various treatments such as durable water repellent and dye which render the material complex to recycle. The collected material was deconstructed into its original monomers, purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and monoethylene glycol (MEG), and the resulting monomers were then repolymerized, spun into yarn and woven into new fabric by external partners. Carbios says the resulting sports t-shirt made from 100 percent textile scrap meets the quality standards and sustainability objectives of the apparel brands present in the fiber-to-fiber consortium.

“We know that fiber-to-fiber recycling is a crucial step to drive our industry towards circularity, which is why we have dedicated energy and investment to researching this area,” says Begüm Kürkçü, director of sustainability at On. “Achieving the proof-of-concept and creating the first t-shirt made out of 100 percent biorecycled fibers is an important milestone. Our engagement with Carbios and the other consortium members is an important step towards enabling the industry to game-changing circular technologies at scale.”

Carbios’ demonstration plant in Clermont-Ferrand, France, has been up and running since 2021, and its first commercial plant is currently under construction in Longlaville, France. In addition, Carbios recently announced several letters of intent with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) producers in Asia and Europe, including Zhink Group, Sasa, FCC Environment UK and Selenis.