A consortium based in Valencia, Spain, initiated the Recimap project to recycle textile waste and recover polyester and lactic acid, a monomer used in polylactic acid (PLA) production. Funded by the Valencian Agency for Innovation and led by Bespoke Factory Group, the project involves collaboration with Aimplas, the Spanish Plastics Technology Centre, the University of Valencia, and the Valencia Interior V3 consortium.

Textile waste, particularly polyester and cotton blends, poses challenges for conventional recycling methods due to its multi-material nature, often leading to landfilling at the end of its life cycle. Aimplas has devised a process to selectively separate cotton and polyester blends using ionic liquids, organic salts with low melting temperatures. These liquids facilitate the solubilization of polymers like PET and PLA, enabling efficient recycling.

The project aims to recycle the polyester fraction using mechano-chemical techniques to obtain recycled polyester, while the cotton fraction will undergo an acid-lactic fermentation process to produce lactic acid.

Belén Taroncher, the principal investigator at Aimplas, highlighted the project's significance in introducing a new recycling approach that generates high-quality recycled materials, including lower carbon footprint recycled polyester and essential lactic acid for PLA production. PLA, comprising 27% of global bioplastics production, is widely used in single-use packaging applications and is considered the most popular biopolymer for commercial use.