Worn Again Technologies unveils the Accelerator, the next major step towards commercialising its pioneering Textile-to-Fibre recycling process and proving the technical and economic feasibility of polycotton recycling.

6^th March 2026, Nottingham, UK

A Textile-to-Fibre Accelerator plant – which the company has started up in Winterthur, Switzerland – showcases Worn Again’s proprietary chemical recycling technology at scale, providing a real-world validation of a process that recovers and regenerates polyester and cellulose from end-of-life textiles. This marks a significant milestone in Worn Again’s journey to transform textile waste into circular fibres.

Less than 1% of clothes are recycled. Meanwhile, textile production already exceeds a staggering 120 million tonnes per annum, a figure that continues to grow, exacerbated by consumer demand for fast fashion. The time is now to scale solutions designed to tackle the textile waste crisis.

“The fashion industry is at a pivotal point,” said Michael Weiss, CEO of Worn Again Technologies. “Blended polycottons, once nearly impossible to recycle efficiently, are now being reimagined through our groundbreaking process. This technology maintains material value, minimises waste, and unlocks significant economic opportunities.”

From Laboratory to Scaled Application

The Accelerator represents the evolution from laboratory innovation to industrial demonstration. In recent years, Worn Again has refined the process chemistry and engineering design – optimising solvent systems and separation techniques – to enable efficient, high-purity recovery of polyester and cellulose fibres. Crucially, the process recovers over 95% of solvents used, reinforcing environmental responsibility.

The technology’s multi-solvent approach allows effective separation of complex materials, including dyes and elastane, which are major challenges for traditional recycling methods. Since 2024, the company achieved breakthroughs by successfully spinning fibres from recovered outputs, reaching new heights in product purity and quality – critical milestones underpinning the deployment of larger-scale operations.

Ongoing scale-up engineering activities continue to enable process efficiencies that weren’t feasible in the laboratory – enhancing the value proposition of the recycling technology as it scales.

The Accelerator plant is being delivered in modules. The first module is to recover spinnable polyester from waste textiles, including post-consumer polycotton blends sourced from Switzerland, the EU & UK. The recovered, Circular Polyester, will soon be available for downstream piloting & product application testing. The next module (which has entered detailed engineering) will produce Next-Gen Cellulosic Fibres and other advanced cellulosic materials.

Advancing Towards Commercial Deployment

The Accelerator provides a platform for testing the technology’s real-world applications. Partner companies will be able to evaluate their feedstocks and validate the process across diverse textile streams, generating critical data to refine and scale operations.

Worn Again is progressing towards a full-scale manufacturing facility designed to process significant volumes of textile waste and produce high-value circular products. “The Accelerator is a critical asset for building towards our first commercial plant.” said Toby Moss, Chief Commercial Officer, “Testing at this scale will expand our solutions to a broader range of feedstocks, ensuring that we stay ahead by valorising more material streams and creating a growing portfolio of high-value, downstream product applications.”

Worn Again has gathered a growing network of strategic partners who will now receive priority access the Accelerator plant and its circular products. As production capacities continue to grow, it will further develop these partnerships and new ones to deliver binding commitments for supply and offtakes of a planned first commercial scale production plant. With the Accelerator now operational, Worn Again is open for business and ready to work with brands, manufacturers and waste handlers to “clean up fashion”.

Interested parties can contact Toby Moss, Chief Commercial Officer by completing the contact form on the company website, https://www.wornagain.co.uk/contact/

Worn Again Technologies

Worn Again is the catalyst of a true circular economy for textiles, believing that the only way forward is through better, profitable processes. Worn Again has led the industry for years with a dedicated team of innovators, moving the industry in a new direction in partnership with retailers, manufacturers, and innovators who share Worn Again’s commitment to sustainable materials—and sustainable business growth.  

Worn Again’s innovative chemical recycling process reclaims virgin-quality products and returns them to the supply chain. Its scalable process—developed through investment, research, and dedication—allows textile manufacturers to separate and decontaminate PET resin and cellulose from end-of-life textiles. Worn Again enables plant operators to become an essential part of the textile industry’s future, producing superior materials for manufacturers across multiple industries and becoming a solution for an economically fractured part of the textiles supply chain.  With reliable access to reclaimed, virgin-quality synthetic and natural materials, manufacturers can authentically offer high-quality, sustainably made options to their retail buyers. Worn Again guides its partners into the future with a profitable business built around large-scale textile recycling. Everyone, from manufacturers to consumers, will be able to contribute to reducing waste. Within a truly circular economy, everyone helps protect the planet from the mistakes of the past.

We rarely think about the journey our clothes take before they arrive in our wardrobes. But behind many cotton shirts or polyester dresses lies a complex web of emissions-intensive activity – cultivating raw materials, spinning fibres, weaving fabric, dyeing, finishing, cutting, sewing, packaging, shipping, marketing, selling, and finally, wearing.

However, with the right combination of government policies, changes to consumer habits, and – vitally – new technologies, it’s possible to dramatically slash the carbon footprint associated with clothing.

A fashionable footprint

According to the European Environment Agency[1], textile purchases in the EU alone generated 121 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2020. This works out to the equivalent to about 270 kg of CO₂ per person. And that’s just one region.

Globally, the fashion industry is estimated to account for 8 to 10 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions[2], and currently this is only growing. If nothing changes, it could be responsible for more than a quarter of all of emissions by 2050[3].

Wrapping your head around this number can be tricky, especially if you only think of the sewing, stitching, and cutting that transforms cloth into clothes. In truth, this impressive figure comes from multiple, interconnected sources of emissions and environmental harm. Despite the name, even natural fibres have an associated environmental cost – with some, such as wool, often having a greater carbon impact than synthetic[4].

At the same time, cotton farming requires vast amounts of water, fertiliser and land. Polyester production is tied directly to fossil fuel extraction. Dyeing and finishing processes are often energy- and chemical-intensive[5].

Add in the carbon footprint of transporting garments between continents, the energy used in retail and e-commerce, and the emissions associated with frequent washing, drying, and ironing, and the full picture becomes clear: the carbon in your closet is embedded at every stage.

Carbon-costly consumption

Of course, while it’s easy to point the finger squarely at the fashion industry, the reality is that our shopping habits play a role too. In the UK, for example, new clothes are bought at such a rate that they produce more carbon emissions per minute than driving a car around the world six times[6]. Despite this, the average adult in the UK spends around £27 a month on fashion and owns at least two unworn garments.

Fast fashion’s model of high turnover and low cost encourages overconsumption. But even outside the high street, the system still leans heavily on linear models of take, make, and dispose. Clothing is underutilised, and less than 1% of textiles are currently recycled back into textiles. That means 99% of clothes end up incinerated or in landfill – wasting both materials and the energy used to create them.

This underutilisation doesn’t just represent a missed opportunity – it adds up to a global material loss of $500 billion every year[7].

Complex problems need smarter solutions

As daunting as the task of tackling fashion’s carbon footprint may be, there are still several things that induvial consumers can do to help. Switching to high-quality brands with a proven environmental record and clothing that will last for several years is a great start if you can afford it, as is buying more of your outfits second-hand.

While consumer behaviour matters, however, the system itself needs structural change. That includes new business models, better recycling infrastructure, and technology that allows materials to retain their value over multiple lifecycles.

One of the major challenges is the complexity of our garments. Blended fabrics, such as polycotton, are popular for their comfort and durability but have traditionally been notoriously difficult to recycle. Mechanical recycling methods struggle to separate the fibres without degrading them. This limits the possibility of reuse and keeps brands dependent on virgin material.

Worn Again Technologies is working to change that.

By developing a chemical recycling process capable of separating and purifying both polyester and cellulose from polycotton blends, the company is helping to create a future where end-of-life clothing can become the raw material for new products. The result is fewer emissions from raw material extraction, lower waste volumes, and greater circularity across the value chain.

From emissions to opportunity

Fashion’s carbon footprint is big, but it’s not immovable. By rethinking how we produce, use, and dispose of clothing, we can start to reduce emissions at every point in the supply chain.

That includes designing garments for longevity, using data to improve supply chain efficiency, creating commercial models that reward reuse and recovery instead of waste, and investing in smarter recycling systems like Worn Again’s.

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[1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20201208STO93327/the-impact-of-textile-production-and-waste-on-the-environment-infographics

[2] https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/08/actnow-for-zero-waste-fashion/

[3] https://carbonliteracy.com/fast-fashions-carbon-footprint/

[4] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tobymoss_polyester-activity-7193239972651429888-CmmH

[5] https://lnkd.in/p/ebxDHiss

[6] https://www.oxfam.org.uk/media/press-releases/fast-fashion-produces-more-carbon-emissions-per-minute-than-driving-a-car-around-the-world-six-times-oxfam

[7] https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/08/actnow-for-zero-waste-fashion/

When your favourite T-shirt reaches the end of its life, what really happens next? If it ends up in a clothing bank, you might picture it being reworn, recycled, or repurposed. But in reality, most old garments – especially those made from fibre blends like polycotton – don’t get a second life. They get downcycled, incinerated, or sent to landfill.

In an ideal world, we’d keep materials like these in play for as long as possible, preserving their quality and value. That’s the vision behind the circular textile economy: an industrial system that eliminates waste and keeps products, components, and materials at their highest utility for as long as possible.

But when it comes to textiles, circularity is harder than it looks.

Open loop, closed loop

When it comes to recycling, processes generally fall into one of two broad categories – open loop, and closed loop.

An open loop refers to a process where materials are recycled into different products or supply chains. Plastic bottles turned into recycled polyester clothes; denim scraps repurposed into insulation. While this kind of recycling can be valuable, open loop systems can be prone to downcycling, where the recycled material is of lower quality or harder to recycle again. This can be an issue, as fresh raw materials will still need to be fed into the supply chain to meet the demand for high-quality products.

Having said that, it’s vital to note that open-loop recycling isn’t inherently wasteful, and doesn’t always have to lead to downcycling. In fact, it can be a smart, sustainable choice, especially when materials are reused in long-lived, high-value applications.  For example, if we can create technologies that convert polyester clothing into plastic bottles, that would be open-loop upcycling that closes the loop in the textile-bottle system

Closed-loop recycling, by contrast, means a material is recycled back into the same type of product, without an appreciable drop in quality. This is the holy grail for many sectors, including the textiles industry – taking worn-out clothes and turning them directly into new textiles, again and again and again.

The real issue isn’t the loop being open or closed. It’s whether the process preserves value and enables repeated reuse. For many of the most common textiles we wear, however, this is easier said than done.

Why blends break the loop

Blended textiles like polycotton are everywhere. Combining the comfort of cotton with the durability of polyester, they make up a huge portion of the garments we wear every day – from uniforms and workwear to casual basics. These blends are engineered for performance, but that performance comes at a cost when it comes to recycling.

The challenge lies in their mixed composition. Mechanical recycling methods, while useful for mono-materials, can only shred these fabrics for reuse in lower-grade applications like insulation or industrial rags. They can’t separate the fibres cleanly, which severely limits the quality and potential use of the recycled material.

The consequence? Most blended fabrics aren’t recycled at all. Despite containing large volumes of reusable material, they slip through the cracks of existing systems and end up as waste. This is one of the textile industry’s biggest blind spots.

To achieve a truly circular textile economy, we need technologies that can handle these complex blends effectively. That means preserving both fibre types, retaining quality, and returning them to the loop without compromise.

That’s why Worn Again Technologies has developed a pioneering chemical recycling process that changes the game for blends. Using carefully designed solvent systems and precision-engineered separation techniques, the technology can extract and purify both the polyester and the cellulose (from cotton) in polycotton garments.

A vital link in the circular chain

Globally, less than 1% of clothes are currently recycled into new clothes[1]. Most textile recycling today is open-loop, intermittent, and focused on mono-materials like 100% cotton or PET. That leaves a vast portion of post-consumer textiles – especially blends – stranded in a system that can’t recover their full value.

Worn Again’s recycling technology helps to close that gap by offering a genuinely circular solution for blended textiles. It enables manufacturers and brands to reclaim valuable resources from garments that would otherwise be destined for landfill or incineration. By extracting both the polyester and cellulose components from polycotton blends, Worn Again turns end-of-life clothing into high-purity, ready-to-use raw materials.

This means less reliance on virgin polyester and a reduced need for cotton cultivation, which despite being considered organic or natural is in reality an industrial system that consumes significant amounts of water, land, pesticides and fossil fuel (to harvest materials from the field and transport them through the value chain, for example). Instead, existing materials are returned to the system with their quality and performance intact.

In creating a consistent and reliable supply of recycled fibre, Worn Again’s processing technology supports the entire value chain. Brands gain access to sustainable inputs, recyclers gain a viable end-market, and consumers gain confidence that their garments can have a life beyond the bin.

Redefining recycling

Worn Again is helping the industry rethink what’s possible by overturning some of the most persistent myths around textile recycling. It challenges outdated assumptions that blended fabrics can’t be recovered, that chemical processes are automatically unsustainable, and that open-loop recycling inevitably leads to downcycling. These beliefs have held back progress and innovation, but Worn Again’s work offers clear, practical alternatives.

Instead of accepting loss of value as inevitable, the company has designed a model where material quality is maintained through every cycle. Its closed-loop system is not just about capturing waste – it’s about unlocking value that would otherwise be lost. In this system, nothing is treated as disposable. Everything is designed to come back again.

In short, Worn Again doesn’t just keep clothes in the loop. It reimagines what the loop can be.

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[1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20201208STO93327/the-impact-of-textile-production-and-waste-on-the-environment-infographics

From fibre to finish, modern fashion is powered by chemistry – and sustainable innovation like Worn Again’s recycling technology is just the next step in the journey.

Every time you pull on your favourite T-shirt or check the care label on your jeans, you’re dipping your toes into the world of chemistry. We don’t often think of fashion as scientific, but behind every colour, crease, stretch and stitch is a cascade of chemical processes. In fact, the garments we wear every day are incredible feats of material science and engineering.

As soft as they might feel, textiles are built on a hard foundation of molecules, reactions, and finely tuned industrial chemistry. Fashion isn’t just a story of catwalks and boutiques, but also chemistry labs, factory floors, and cutting-edge innovations.

It might surprise you to learn that chemical recycling – like the textile-to-textile process developed by Worn Again Technologies – is not an outlier, but a natural extension of how clothes are already made. To understand why, we need to look a little closer at the journey a piece of clothing takes from molecule to wardrobe.

The birth of a fabric

Let’s start at the very beginning: the fibre. Whether natural, synthetic, or a blend of both, every textile begins its life as a molecular structure.

Cotton, for example, is made of cellulose – a natural polymer found in the cell walls of plants. Its softness and breathability make it a staple of casual wear. To prepare raw cotton for textile use, it undergoes a series of treatments: scouring, bleaching, and sometimes mercerising – a chemical treatment with sodium hydroxide that strengthens fibres and improves dye uptake.

Polyester, by contrast, is a synthetic polymer, typically created by reacting ethylene glycol with terephthalic acid in a process known as polymerisation. This reaction forms long chains of repeating units – creating a strong, flexible fibre that resists shrinking and dries quickly. It’s lightweight, durable, and versatile, which is why it’s used in everything from sportswear to upholstery.

Often, these two materials are blended to make polycotton – combining cotton’s comfort with polyester’s durability. But while blending improves garment performance, it has historically complicated recycling. Once the fibres are mixed, they can’t easily be separated using traditional methods. That’s one of the main reasons so many clothes currently end up in landfill.

Dyeing and finishing

Once spun into yarn and woven into fabric, clothes undergo a colourful transformation. Dyeing is a complex chemical process that requires precise control to ensure dyes penetrate and bind to fibres. The type of fibre, pH of the dye bath, temperature, and auxiliary chemicals all influence the final result.

Natural fibres like cotton are usually dyed using reactive or direct dyes, which chemically bond to cellulose. Polyester, on the other hand, requires disperse dyes that can penetrate its hydrophobic structure under high heat and pressure. Achieving bright, long-lasting colours on blended fabrics means using careful combinations of these methods.

Beyond colour, fabrics are finished with treatments that affect texture, performance, and longevity. Anti-wrinkle agents often rely on crosslinking chemicals like formaldehyde resins, which bond fibres together to prevent creasing. Water- and stain-resistant finishes typically use fluorocarbon or silicone-based compounds, applied in thin layers to coat the fabric.

Other finishes include flame retardants for safety, anti-bacterial coatings for sportswear, and softeners for comfort. These aren’t just optional extras either – they’re a key part of how modern textiles function. All are made possible by targeted, engineered chemistry.

Performance enhancing chemistry

From stretch leggings to waterproof jackets, performance clothing is defined by its chemistry. Elastane fibres, (commonly known by brand names like Lycra or Spandex) provide stretch through their coiled polymer chains, which can extend and return to shape repeatedly without damage.

Waterproof and breathable fabrics are even more chemically sophisticated. Technologies like Gore-Tex use microporous membranes made from expanded PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), which have pores small enough to block water droplets but large enough to allow water vapour to escape. Hydrophilic coatings, another method, absorb moisture and move it across the fabric surface by diffusion.

Even basics like colour fastness, anti-pilling treatments, and UV protection rely on tailored chemical strategies. Chemical bonding agents help dyes stay fast after repeated washes. Enzyme washes remove fuzz and prevent pilling. UV-absorbing finishes protect both fabric and skin.

Whether we notice it or not, science ensures that our clothes keep looking good, feeling comfortable, and working hard across a wide range of environments and uses.

Giving new life to old textiles with Worn Again

So, what happens when these garments reach the end of their life?

For blended textiles like polycotton, recycling has previously been a dead end. The mixture of natural and synthetic fibres defeats most recycling technologies, which are designed to process either one or the other.

But Worn Again Technologies is changing that. Using a proprietary chemical recycling process, Worn Again can separate and purify both the polyester and cellulose from polycotton fabrics. Through solvent systems and precision filtration, each component is extracted and refined to a high purity.

The result? High-quality raw materials that can be reintroduced into the textile supply chain as if they were virgin materials – but without the environmental cost of extracting or growing them anew. This means fewer fossil fuels, less water usage, and a genuine step towards a circular economy.

This is – if you’ll forgive the pun – chemistry as a solution – clean, efficient, and circular.

Chemistry, reimagined

There can be a tendency to view chemistry with suspicion, especially in the sustainability space. People associate it with pollution, toxins, and unnatural materials. But the truth is, the clothes we wear every day are the result of chemical innovation – from fibre creation to finishing treatments.

Without chemistry, we wouldn’t have sportswear that stays dry, jackets that block wind, or even socks that don’t lose their shape. Fashion has always been a product of scientific progress. And now, it can also be a platform for environmental progress.

Worn Again’s technology doesn’t disrupt this process. It completes it. By closing the loop on blended fabrics, it offers a smarter, science-backed future for fashion – one where materials retain their value, and waste is no longer the end of the story.

And that’s something we can all feel good about wearing.

Fast fashion is the epitome of throwaway culture, its predominately linear business model results in vast quantities of unwanted garments polluting the environment. Help is at hand though, as innovative solvent-based chemical recycling is allowing mixed blend textiles to be reborn as virgin-equivalent raw materials. Trendsetters in these processes, like Worn Again Technologies, are helping to build a circular economy for clothes so that fast fashion doesn’t cost the world.

Not a good look

It’s no understatement that fast fashion is a critical battleground in combating global warming and waste. Cheap garments designed to meet ever shortening trend cycles quickly end up in landfill, incinerators and the wider environment. Producing these clothes is carbon and resource intensive too; some estimate that the fashion industry is responsible for 4% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions and 20% of wastewater,^[1] not to mention the land use aspects.

Unfortunately, the problem is growing. “Microseasons”, celebrity culture and influencers are accelerating trend cycles, increasing demand for fast fashion. Combine this with an industry that is preoccupied with volume production to reduce cost per unit and the result is chronic oversupply, with around 100 billion new garments produced around the world each year.^[2] The planned obsolescence of fast fashion is another issue. After a few wears and washes, many garments begin to disintegrate or discolour, encouraging owners to throw them away.

A linear model

Overproduction is debilitating to the environment. Growing cotton is resource intensive, with a single clothing item requiring either hundreds or thousands of gallons of water, grown on land that could otherwise be put to better use (such as food production) and delivering a relatively high carbon footprint. To reduce costs (and carbon), many fashion brands blend cotton with polyester. A versatile plastic, polyester is fossil fuel derived and takes a long time to degrade, adding plenty of microplastics to the planet and drinking water. Compounding the problem, recycling mixed-blend garments has historically been challenging, providing a further incentive to simply dispose of clothes.

Current market conditions and perceived recycling limitations, result in an unsurprising 85% of all textiles going to dumps or incinerators every year.^[3] Dumping clothes in the ground poisons the environment (even supposedly biodegradable clothes contain non-degradable chemicals), taking up space and damaging habitats. Consequently, many countries have found loopholes to piggyback on the existing reuse trade by also exporting unwanted fast fashion products to places such as Ghana and Chile.

This is increasingly not a solution either, as photos from Jamestown Beach (Accra, Ghana) or the Atacama desert (Chile) show large volumes of material being dumped in uncontrolled landfill, blighting the local environment.^[4]

It’s logical that this would occur considering the rapid increase in volume and the equally rapid reduction in average garment quality arriving on the market due to fast fashion. Legacy sorting operators, the champions of sustainable reuse, are sounding the alarm on this worrying trend. The reputation of responsible second-hand operators is being crushed by fast fashion as a broad moral brush is applied by western pundits, ultimately supporting the sales of newspapers and magazines, but doing little to improve the condition.

Fast fashion goes circular

Clearly, to build a circular economy for fast fashion, new recycling techniques are required to process mixed-blend garments. The key is to effectively separate polyester from cotton so that both materials can be reused to produce new, low emission textiles. In this area, Worn Again is leading the industry.

“Our solvent-based chemical recycling technology offers a proven solution for processing mixed-blend, fast fashion garments,” says Toby Moss, Director of Business Development at Worn Again Technologies. “Our technology separates and purifies polyester and cotton from clothes, while reliably tolerating up to 10% contamination from other materials. We don’t break the materials down into their molecular components, so after we separate out the dyes, additives and impurities, we are left with circular polyester resin pellets and cellulosic pulp ready for reuse.”

New styles with pure substance

The critical advantage of this process is that it produces pure feedstocks: virgin-equivalent materials that can be immediately utilized to make new products. For example, the polyester pellets are of spinning grade, while cellulosic pulp can be turned into fibers, so both can be used in clothes manufacturing. The technology has relevance beyond fashion too, allowing recycled materials to be incorporated into packaging, car interiors and home appliances for example.

Solvent-based chemical recycling is a proven way to lower the impact of fast fashion. By reclaiming materials, it can prevent clothes ending up in landfill, incinerators and the wider environment – superseding the current linear business model. Furthermore, resource and carbon intensive fibers like polyester and cotton can be reused in new products, reducing emissions and conserving water. The scalability of the technology ensures that a high volume of textiles can be processed, helping to combat oversupply and waste. Finally, its ability to accommodate contaminated textiles ensures excellent suitability for garments of varying qualities from different sources.

Trending towards recycling

For fashion brands and recyclers, this is a timely innovation. Governments are increasingly aware of the environmental damage caused by fast fashion and are introducing legislation to combat it. Extended Producer Responsibility schemes are forcing brands to manage the full lifecycle of their products, with legislation mandating that they process a growing proportion of their waste. To ensure cost-effective compliance, brands and recyclers will have to rely on established technologies such as Worn Again’s solvent-based chemical recycling to smoothen the transition.

Ultimately, innovative textile recycling technology is supporting a growing trend for circularity within the fast fashion industry. Instead of cheap, low-quality garments incurring ever higher volumes of carbon emissions and waste, these clothes can be used to produce new virgin-equivalent materials that have a reduced environmental impact. With the global fast fashion market projected to be worth nearly 185 billion USD by 2027^[5], innovative textile recycling technology needs to be the next big trendsetter.

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[1] Ultra-fast Fashion Is Eating the World – The Atlantic

[2] Fashion Waste Facts and Statistics – Businesswaste.co.uk

[3] Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact – Earth.Org

[4] Where does the UK’s fast fashion end up? I found out on a beach clean in Ghana – The Guardian

[5] Fast fashion market value forecast worldwide from 2021 to 2027 – Statista

Between public pressure and mounting environmental regulations, every sector is feeling the push to find more sustainable solutions. The textiles industry is no exception to this, but for many years it struggled with a persistent challenge: how to handle and recycle blended fabrics, which have traditionally been extremely difficult to break down.

This is a huge sustainability issue, as the global textile industry is massive, valued at $1.8 trillion as of 2023[1], and with this scale comes an equally enormous waste problem. Over 124 million tons (112 million tonnes) of textiles are produced annually, and the vast majority of these end up in landfills or are incinerated after their useful life.

Shockingly, only about 10% of textile waste is currently recycled, and much of that is downcycled into lower-value products such as insulation or rags​[2]. This inefficient use of resources has prompted the need for more sustainable solutions, especially when dealing with blended fabrics composed of polyester (PET) and cotton, which make up a large portion of clothing and home textiles.

A leading solution to this issue comes in the form of an innovative process developed by Worn Again Technologies. With its proprietary chemical process, Worn Again can take in blended fabrics, separate and extract the valuable components, creating new products that are indistinguishable from virgin materials. In this way, it offers a scalable solution that not only reduces waste but also contributes to the creation of a circular economy.

Breaking down the process

Worn Again’s solution is rooted in a solvent-based chemical recycling process that efficiently separates and purifies both polyester and cotton from blended textiles. The technology focuses on preserving the integrity of the materials, allowing them to be reused in new products. Here’s how the process works:

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A broad impact

Worn Again’s technology is not just a solution for the fashion industry but has potential applications across countless other sectors. The ability to recycle PET and cotton into high-quality materials opens up possibilities for industries like automotive, packaging, and home goods, where recycled fibers can be used in a wide range of products ranging from packing to car dashboards.

By keeping these materials in circulation, Worn Again’s process supports the growth of a circular economy—one where products are continually reused and repurposed, reducing the need for new raw materials. This allows businesses to not only improve their sustainability credentials, but also align with growing regulatory pressures, such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations, which mandate that textile manufacturers take responsibility for the collection and recycling of their products​.

As the global textile industry grapples with the need to become more sustainable, Worn Again Technologies provides a glimpse into what the future of recycling could look like. Through its innovative chemical recycling process, Worn Again is not only tackling the issue of textile waste but also paving the way for a more circular, environmentally responsible industry.

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[1] https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/textile-market

[2] https://www.businesswaste.co.uk/your-waste/textile-recycling/fashion-waste-facts-and-statistics

Worn Again is proud to announce that it is now a Gold-Level sponsor of the European Recycling Industries Confederation (EuRIC). This partnership strengthens the company’s commitment to building a sustainable and Circular Economy, both within the textiles sector and wider industry.

EuRIC is the leading voice for a competitive European recycling industry, representing more than 5,500 companies as it advocates for recycling’s role in Europe’s industrial transition. With a combined turnover of almost a hundred billion Euros to the EU economy, EuRIC members transform waste into valuable resources,supporting 300,000 green jobs and bridging the gap between circularity and climate neutrality.

Toby Moss, Director of Business Development at Worn Again, said: “Becoming a Gold-Level sponsor of EuRIC is a key milestone for us. Sustainability is not something any business – or even industry – can achieve in isolation. This collaboration underscores the importance of working together to scale innovative solutions that divert waste from landfills and incineration and instead transforms it into valuable resources.

“EuRIC’s work aligns perfectly with our mission to accelerate the Circular Economy and inspire systemic change in the global textiles industry.”

With its advanced chemical recycling technologies, Worn Again extracts polyester and cellulose from post-consumer textiles, offering outputs that can be reintroduced into the supply chain.

As a Gold-Level Sponsor, Worn Again will actively contribute to EuRIC’s vital initiatives, including offering expertise and support across educational outreach, industry collaboration, and advocacy for progressive recycling policies. These initiatives aim to build a unified framework for sustainable practices across industries and ensure that resources remain in continuous circulation.

“As recycling innovators, we are at the forefront of Europe’s green industrial evolution,” added Toby. “Together with EuRIC, we aim to amplify the impact of recycling technologies and help shape policies that make a tangible difference for our planet and future generations.”Julia Ettinger, EuRIC’s Secretary General welcomed the sponsorship stating: “We are delighted to welcome Worn Again Technologies as a Gold sponsor. Collaboration with pioneering companies is essential to driving innovation and accelerating the transition to a more circular future. Worn Again’s expertise and commitment to sustainability will be a significant asset to EuRIC’s Textiles branch, which represents the collective interests of Europe’s textile recycling and re-use industries.”

From vibrant-colored shirts to pristine white fibers: “Worn Again’s technology achieves the breakthrough we’ve been striving for.” (Mike Schwarz, Worn Again)

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Worn Again Technologies recently achieved a major milestone: together with our partners, we successfully carried out our proprietary chemical recycling process from end-of-life textile to virgin-equivalent spun fiber, further validating our technology. The fibers produced meet expected quality standards, laying the groundwork for downstream product qualification. For the first time, Worn Again has been able to prove fiber-to-fiber recycling of polycotton textile including complete removal of common impurities, such as elastane and acrylics.

These positive results validate our vision and demonstrate that Worn Again’s technology is ready to scale to market. Worn Again will now consolidate the various process stages in one location to establish our first industrial chemical textile recycling plant in Europe. With the technical hurdles now achieved and engineering complete, Worn Again’s team is prepared to proceed with construction of a recycling plant at our site in Winterthur.

The market environment is equally promising. The Swiss fashion industry is ramping up its efforts to recycle more clothing, and discussions about introducing a recycling fee could further drive sustainability initiatives. This presents an ideal opportunity for Worn Again’s technology to contribute to the textile sector’s circular economy objectives. Our process enables a fully circular textile economy, which will undoubtedly attract interest beyond Switzerland. The demand for sustainable textile recycling solutions is also gaining momentum across Europe, where Worn Again is poised to play a pivotal role.

Worn Again’s technology represents not only a leap into the future of textile recycling but also a milestone in fostering a sustainable and responsible fashion industry. We firmly believe this is just the beginning of an exciting journey for the sector and hope our partners will join us in taking the next step forward.

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Wichtiger Meilenstein erreicht: Worn Again‘s Technologie ermöglicht das Recycling von Polycotton-Textilien

Worn Again Technologies hat einen Meilenstein im Textilrecycling erreicht: Gemeinsam mit seinen Partnern hat das Unternehmen erfolgreich aus ausgedienten Textilien neuwertige Fasern in bester Qualität hergestellt. Dabei kam der von Worn Again entwickelte chemische Recyclingprozess zum Einsatz. Mit diesem Prozess gelang es dem Unternehmen erstmals, das Faser-zu-Faser-Recycling von Polycotton-Textilien durchzuführen – einschliesslich der vollständigen Entfernung von Verunreinigungen wie Elastan und Acryl. Die resultierenden Fasern erfüllen höchste Qualitätsstandards und sind bereit, in der Produktion neuer, hochwertiger Produkte eingesetzt zu werden.

Diese positiven Ergebnisse unterstreichen die Marktreife der Technologie von Worn Again. Das Unternehmen plant, die verschiedenen Prozessstufen des Verfahrens an einem Standort zu konsolidieren, um die erste industrielle Recyclinganlage für chemisches Textilrecycling in Europa zu errichten. Das Team ist bereit, am Standort in Winterthur den Bau einer entsprechenden Recyclinganlage voranzutreiben.

Vielversprechendes Marktumfeld für nachhaltige Lösungen

Auch das Marktumfeld bietet vielversprechende Perspektiven: Die Schweizer Modebranche intensiviert ihre Bemühungen, Kleidung vermehrt zu recyceln, und es werden Überlegungen zur Einführung einer Recyclinggebühr angestellt, die zusätzliche Impulse für Nachhaltigkeitsinitiativen geben könnte. Dies stellt eine ideale Gelegenheit dar, die Technologie von Worn Again einzusetzen, um die Textilindustrie bei der Erreichung ihrer Ziele einer Kreislaufwirtschaft zu unterstützen. Das Verfahren ermöglicht eine echte zirkuläre Textilwirtschaft, die weit über die Grenzen der Schweiz hinaus auf grosses Interesse stossen dürfte. Auch in anderen europäischen Ländern wird das Potenzial für nachhaltiges Textilrecycling zunehmend erkannt, und Worn Again ist gut positioniert, in diesem Bereich eine entscheidende Rolle zu spielen.

Die Technologie von Worn Again markiert nicht nur einen bedeutenden Fortschritt im Textilrecycling, sondern auch einen Meilenstein in der Entwicklung einer nachhaltigen und verantwortungsvollen Modeindustrie. Dies ist erst der Beginn einer spannenden Entwicklung für die Branche, und Worn Again hofft, dass die beteiligten Partner auch die nächsten Schritte gemeinsam mit dem Unternehmen gehen werden.

 

In partnership with Institut für Werkstofftechnik und Kunststoffverarbeitung (IWK), Worn Again, Sulzer and others have succeeded in their joint bid for grant funding from Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency.

The flagship project, called “Towards a NetZero Plastics Industry”, will create a platform for Swiss companies to foster collaboration and drive systemic change within the plastics industry to achieve a sustainable future. Worn Again’s contribution will be focussed on a specific upcycling pathway, converting used textiles into a higher-grade PET which is ideally suited to an important Swiss manufacturing sector, technical parts,

The project, which will start in January 2024 and run through 2028, aligns with Worn Again’s plans to bring online it’s demonstration chemical recycling plant in Winterthur. Worn Again will produce PET for application testing within Sulzer Chemtech’s technology to convert the raw material into advanced foams, and within various injection moulding technologies at IWK’s facility. This activity will be underpinned by ongoing assessment of climate benefits which will feed into a digital decarbonisation tool that IWK will develop for dissemination to Swiss manufacturers.

Toby Moss, Director of Business Development said: “We want to use our demo plant and develop the surrounding value chain as a blueprint for building out the Circular Economy globally. Our clients want our technology to deliver environmental benefit and generate value. In addition to our core fibre-to-fibre offering, by enabling non-textile outcomes for Worn Again’s circular products, our clients can leverage their plants to maximise both outcomes.”

Worn Again, Sulzer and others have already established the Swiss Textile Recycling Ecosystem. This project will create additional mechanisms for these companies to contribute to a circular economy in Switzerland and as a potential blueprint for expanding this new value chain elsewhere.

Worn Again Technologies will support ACT UK by bringing its recycling know-how and through the use of its 1,000 tonne per year demonstration plant based in Winterthur, Switzerland.

Worn Again Technologies

Worn Again is the catalyst of a true circular economy for textiles, believing that the only way forward is through better, profitable processes. Worn Again has led the industry for years with a dedicated team of innovators, moving the industry in a new direction in partnership with retailers, manufacturers, and innovators who share Worn Again’s commitment to sustainable materials—and sustainable business growth.

Worn Again’s innovative chemical recycling process reclaims virgin-quality products and returns them to the supply chain. Its scalable process—developed through investment, research, and dedication—allows textile manufacturers to separate and decontaminate PET resin and cellulose from end-of-life textiles. Worn Again enables plant operators to become an essential part of the textile industry’s future, producing superior materials for manufacturers across multiple industries and becoming a solution for an economically fractured part of the supply chain.

With reliable access to reclaimed, virgin-quality synthetic and natural materials, manufacturers can authentically offer high-quality, sustainably made options to their retail buyers. Worn Again guides its partners into the future with a profitable business built around large-scale textile recycling. Everyone, from manufacturers to consumers, will be able to contribute to reducing waste. Within a truly circular economy, everyone helps protect the planet from the mistakes of the past.