Deuteronomy 22:11 a problem no more
October 19, 2023 7:48 AM Subscribe
On the YouTube channel for the American Chemical Society, George Zaidan shows a recently published method for robustly separating out polyester from polycotton fabrics using a common solvent and on simple chemical (used in baking since the middle ages) and a toaster oven.
There's a text overview here.
Link to original paper: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c03114
There's a text overview here.
Link to original paper: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c03114
there is almost no post-consumer textile recycling available
A combination of the natural fungus and bacteria along with worms in a worm bin will produce a soil and dirty polyester. Takes a few months.
posted by rough ashlar at 8:37 AM on October 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
A combination of the natural fungus and bacteria along with worms in a worm bin will produce a soil and dirty polyester. Takes a few months.
posted by rough ashlar at 8:37 AM on October 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
I knew it was baker’s ammonia as soon as I saw the Middle Ages reference! (Thanks to my springerle baking wife.)
posted by TedW at 8:47 AM on October 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by TedW at 8:47 AM on October 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
This process gives you both usable polyester and usable cotton. This is the whole point. Feeding cotton and polyester to worms does not result in usable cotton.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:12 AM on October 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:12 AM on October 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
it looks to me like this is a part of the process that could be industrialised on a huge scale
Yep. I'm sure we're going to build massive digestive systems that, maybe after a little robotic/mechanical sorting, can take an entire country's garbage and turn out raw materials. Instead of sitting in a landfill forever, your unsorted garbage will all be slowly digested.
posted by pracowity at 9:14 AM on October 19, 2023 [4 favorites]
Yep. I'm sure we're going to build massive digestive systems that, maybe after a little robotic/mechanical sorting, can take an entire country's garbage and turn out raw materials. Instead of sitting in a landfill forever, your unsorted garbage will all be slowly digested.
posted by pracowity at 9:14 AM on October 19, 2023 [4 favorites]
This process gives you both usable polyester and usable cotton. This is the whole point. Feeding cotton and polyester to worms does not result in usable cotton.
It also emits CO2, which is its own problem.
posted by mhoye at 9:48 AM on October 19, 2023
It also emits CO2, which is its own problem.
posted by mhoye at 9:48 AM on October 19, 2023
The ammonium bicarbonate is a catalyst, so there's no CO₂ directly released from the reaction, which is a pretty surprising part of the reaction for me. Energy consumption is certainly lower than remaking from raw materials.
In terms of whether recycling collection is feasible, I mean, that's a whole other ballgame. I mean, I get a weekly collection that separates out clothes at the kerbside, but I don't use it, because in fact the clothes are manually sorted and only those that can be worn again actually get reprocessed. So the sorting happens even in my not especially well run country. Having a better destination for the masses of semi-usable clothing that makes it way from rich countries to poor countries only to turn into landfill there would be a huge advantage.
posted by ambrosen at 10:01 AM on October 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
In terms of whether recycling collection is feasible, I mean, that's a whole other ballgame. I mean, I get a weekly collection that separates out clothes at the kerbside, but I don't use it, because in fact the clothes are manually sorted and only those that can be worn again actually get reprocessed. So the sorting happens even in my not especially well run country. Having a better destination for the masses of semi-usable clothing that makes it way from rich countries to poor countries only to turn into landfill there would be a huge advantage.
posted by ambrosen at 10:01 AM on October 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yard waste around here dies not take fabrics.
We have one of those meal in a box services and they sometimes uses blocks of recycled denim as an insulator, and we never have any idea what to do with it.
posted by Artw at 10:08 AM on October 19, 2023
We have one of those meal in a box services and they sometimes uses blocks of recycled denim as an insulator, and we never have any idea what to do with it.
posted by Artw at 10:08 AM on October 19, 2023
As he says, there are really few options with mixed-material fabrics beyond incineration or simply landfill. Clothes and fabrics really are kind of a nightmare for any reuse scenario.
posted by bonehead at 12:51 PM on October 19, 2023
posted by bonehead at 12:51 PM on October 19, 2023
A combination of the natural fungus and bacteria along with worms in a worm bin will produce a soil and dirty polyester.
This is landfill/land farming, a special kind, but the similar to what is done with a lot of anthropogenic or otherwise hazardous organics (like oily wastes, for example). It's destructive and recovers almost none of the energy that had to be used to create the fabric. That's the real cost, the CO2 used to make the plastic and the cotton which is completely lost when it is destroyed rather than reused.
posted by bonehead at 12:56 PM on October 19, 2023
This is landfill/land farming, a special kind, but the similar to what is done with a lot of anthropogenic or otherwise hazardous organics (like oily wastes, for example). It's destructive and recovers almost none of the energy that had to be used to create the fabric. That's the real cost, the CO2 used to make the plastic and the cotton which is completely lost when it is destroyed rather than reused.
posted by bonehead at 12:56 PM on October 19, 2023
For those who did not, like me, win the Junior Scripture Prize:
"Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together". Deut 22:11 KJV
BobTheObvs
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:15 PM on October 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
"Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together". Deut 22:11 KJV
BobTheObvs
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:15 PM on October 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
There's a startup that has a polycotton recycling process that they're trying to scale. Not sure how they compare but it sounds like this process doesn't need high pressure though, which has to be good?
posted by BungaDunga at 1:19 PM on October 19, 2023
posted by BungaDunga at 1:19 PM on October 19, 2023
...'Co's knotty dread no jesterposted by y2karl at 2:33 PM on October 20, 2023
He no wear no polyester
-- to unravel this thread...
In addition to the exciting potential of this paper, that was really well done video.
posted by gwint at 3:48 PM on October 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by gwint at 3:48 PM on October 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
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I think it's a huge shame how there is almost no post-consumer textile recycling available, and it looks to me like this is a part of the process that could be industrialised on a huge scale, to produce large amounts of high quality cellulose and monomers to act as feedstock for new polyester, so I do find it pretty exciting.
posted by ambrosen at 8:13 AM on October 19, 2023 [7 favorites]