An Australian company BlockTexx has opened the world’s first commercial poly-cotton recycling facility. This facility will recycle around 50,000 tons of textiles and create 140 jobs over the next four years, if all goes to plan.

This is the world’s first commercial scale textile resource recovery facility focused on blended (cotton-polyester) products. The patented technology of BlockTexx, soft (separation of fiber technology), processes pure polyester, poly/cotton blends, pure cotton and any other cellulosic material.

Through the soft process, the company has achieved a very high processing recovery rate of almost one to one from feedstock input, around a 95 percent recovery rate. The recycling process of BlockTexx sees material being placed into a bespoke reactor, where polyester and cotton are separated. Cotton is broken down to cellulose, and this can be used for paints, cosmetics, concrete and other sectors. Polyester goes through a heating and liquifying process to be turned into pellets that can be used for playground equipment, furniture, coat-hangers and other products.

In terms of feedstock, BlockTexx receives materials to recycle from large scale laundries and workwear companies and as the facility’s capacity scales will integrate more post-consumer clothing into its feedstock intake. The fiber blend is critical to the process. Polyester/cotton blends, 100 percent polyester and cellulosics are the preferred fibers and brands using these materials will be the company’s priority.