Ence and ShareTex have conducted tests to recycle textile chemicals using an innovative technology that does not require high pressure, high temperatures or the use of harmful solvents. The new process will be further tested in the Spanish pilot plant of As Pontes, a joint venture between Ence and ShareTex, to facilitate the production of recycled textile fibres.
The textile industry is one of the largest industrial polluters and is responsible for around ten per cent of global carbon emissions, which are estimated to increase significantly in the coming years. Over 110 million tonnes of textile fibres are produced worldwide every year and only around a tenth of these are recycled.
Tests have shown that the process developed by Ence and ShareTex is capable of recovering a wider range of products than with conventional mechanical recycling. This also includes products with mixed components, such as those found in many textile products. By commissioning the pilot plant for the recycling of textile waste in As Pontes, Ence aims to reduce the consumption of natural resources.
The Consortium for the Chemical Recycling of Post-consumer Textiles was created to promote research into sustainable recycling technology in Galicia. The consortium includes ShareTex, Ence, the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Environmental Technologies at the University of Santiago de Compostela, the EQ2 group at the University of Vigo, the University of La Coruña, the CETIM technology centre, the AIMEN technology centre and the textile recycling companies Insertega and Coleo.
Ence also intends to invest in the realisation of the three phases of the project in As Pontes. The project envisages the creation of around 1,250 jobs. In the first phase, a plant for the recovery of fibres will be built, which will include the pilot plant for the recovery of textile fibres. Two cogeneration plants will be commissioned in the second phase and a tissue plant in the third phase.
Ence
Ence, based in Madrid, is a European leader in eucalyptus pulp production. ENCE owns two pulp mills in Navia and Pontevedra, which produce around 1.2 million tonnes of eucalyptus pulp annually. In Navia, the ECF process is used and in Pontevedra, Ence uses the TCF bleaching process, which does not use chlorine compounds but hydrogen peroxide as a bleaching agent.
ShareTex
ShareTex is based in Malmö, Sweden. The core of the ShareTex process is the conversion of cellulose-based used textiles into cellulose or a pure sugar solution.
