Isko, a Turkish denim manufacturer, has signed a licence agreement with the Hong Kong Research Institute for Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA), whose ‘Green Machine’ is believed to extract cotton fibre from polyester. A complex manufacturing procedure that is required in order for the fashion supply chain to fully circulate.
The Green Machine employs a hydrothermal treatment capable of dissolving cotton and converting it into cellulose powder, which is subsequently separated from the polyester fibres found in mixed textiles. The therapy is said to take only two hours to work, making mass adoption a possibility. Isko has entered into an arrangement with Indonesian textile manufacturer Kahatex.
Polyester recycling is a crucial option since this fibre accounted for 52.6 percent of all textiles manufactured globally in 2019. Fashion for Good, an organisation of fashion companies such as Adidas, C&A, Kering, Otto Group, and PVH Corp., has stated that it is collaborating on polyhydroxyalkanoates, or PHA fibres.
