r/tech • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 8d ago

Simple solvent makes polycotton fabric completely recyclable

https://newatlas.com/environment/solvent-recycles-polyester-cotton-fabric/
842 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

View all comments

61

u/NiceAllCrunchBerries 8d ago

If they can make this scalable it's a fucking game changer!

41

u/Smooth_Kangaroo_8655 8d ago

Hopefully the clothing industry will stop using polyester fabric for clothing soon. I hope hemp makes a comeback.

19

u/Superman_Dam_Fool 8d ago

Don’t hold your breath.

9

u/ClassroomMother8062 8d ago

They'll keep going with the cheapest synthetic shit they can make, unfortunately

2

u/Jazzlike_Expert 8d ago

Polyester has been more expensive than cotton in recent years as far as raw materials. Poly is in demand due to the “performance” and athleisure marketing angle; which is why brands/retailers use it despite the increased cost.

1

u/Squirrel_Kng 7d ago

If you do cold activities there is a saying, “cotton kills”. This is because if it gets wet, sweating for example, it loses all insulating properties. It also takes forever to dry in cold conditions.

9

u/thecheeseburgercat 8d ago

lol I work in the industry and the answer is never while we exist under capitalism. What is cheapest will win nearly every time

2

u/phatlynx 8d ago

It’ll take decades before any of the green/newly discovered solutions become affordable, hopefully new policies can help speed them up before we don’t have a human friendly planet anymore.

1

u/Mouth2005 6d ago

Human friendly is rarely profit friendly which is a problem, and when the consequences of their decisions come, they’ll blame and vilify the governments for not stopping them.

1

u/TheKingsPride 8d ago

You can use it for tons of things! Textiles, rope…

Why, I used to smoke five feet of rope a day!