The problem involved in the recycling of waste polycotton textiles has halted the progress of sustainable material utilisation for many years. The research efforts between University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Avantium offer a method to effectively separate and repurpose the cotton and polyester components of blended textiles. The Nature Communications publication (See reference below) outlines an approach that could change the way textile waste is handled at an industrial scale.
Leenders, N., Moerbeek, R.M., Puijk, M.J. et al. Polycotton waste textile recycling by sequential hydrolysis and glycolysis. Nat Commun 16, 738 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-55935-6
Superconcentrated hydrochloric acid, at room temperature, selectively transforms cotton-based materials from polycotton fabrics into glucose compounds. The obtained glucose acts as raw material for producing biobased renewable plastic materials. The polyester components stay whole after this process so businesses recycle this material through their current polyester procedures.
Prof. Gert-Jan Gruter points out that the dual advantage emerges from this process according to his role as leader of the UvA Industrial Sustainable Chemistry group and Chief Technology Officer at Avantium. The process of extracting glucose from textile waste plays a crucial role in establishing a circular economy because it substitutes food-based glucose production systems based on corn and wheat according to Gruter. The process allows compatible polyester recycling while proving itself an efficient solution to handle textile waste management.
“Being able to recover glucose from the cotton in textile waste is a crucial contribution to this, as glucose is a key bio-based feedstock. Currently, it is produced from starch from corn and wheat. If and when we will be producing plastics from biomass on a large scale, the world will need a lot of non-food glucose.”
Stated Prof. Gert-Jan Gruter, who heads the Industrial Sustainable Chemistry group at the UvA’s Van ‘t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS) as a part time professor. Gruter is Chief Technology Officer at Avantium.
The research was carried out as part of the MiWaTex project, involving collaborations with textile sorting and recycling firm Wieland, workwear producer Groenendijk Bedrijfskleding, and chemical recycling specialist CuRe. Nienke Leenders, the study’s lead author, conducted experiments using Avantium’s pilot plant, which applies the company’s Dawn Technology™ originally designed for converting non-food biomass into useful chemicals.
Results from the trials showed that the process not only achieves complete hydrolysis of cotton into glucose but also allows for the easy separation of polyester fibers. This efficiency shows that the method could be scaled up for commercial implementation.
The researchers also performed a techno-economic analysis of the process, which suggests it could be cost-effective at an industrial scale. The glucose derived from recycled cotton has multiple applications, including the production of bio-based plastics such as polyethylene furanoate (PEF), a sustainable alternative to conventional PET plastics. Meanwhile, the polyester component can be chemically recycled into virgin-quality polyester, further reducing reliance on virgin fossil-based resources.
“Many parties are trying to get either of these things done but no one has succeeded yet. Our techno-economic analysis looks rather favorable and Avantium has already invested substantially in this development.
“Our ambition is to advance this technology to the next phase of commercialisation, together with partners. So we might very well be the first to market non-food glucose obtained through a bio-refinery approach.”
