Purecycle, Minifibers and Beverly Knits Trial PCR Resin
Sample products produced from recycled material.
announced a successful trial run with and, producing product samples from post-consumer recycled waste. Minifibers produced synthetic fiber packages that were sent to Beverly Knits to produce textiles. These initial product samples are designed to enable brand owners to feel confident there will be no compromise in quality when they introduce Purecycle resin into their products.
In March, Minifibers presented the Purecycle team with a rug made from Purecycle postindustrial recycled resin. Source: Purecycle.
“In the past, fiber producers have experienced challenges when trying to use recycled polypropylene, because the varying level of contaminants cause the thread to break during the fiber manufacturing process. We remove those contaminants in our process at the molecular level, and in doing so, provide stronger product quality,” says Dustin Olson, Purecycle CEO. “This trial is also a good example of Purecycle resin in a non-food grade application. Fiber represents approximately 15% of the global demand for virgin polypropylene and to date, there hasn’t been a scalable supply of recycled material to meet that demand.”
Purecycle uses a solvent-based recycling process to wash out unwanted additives and contaminants while recycling.
Beverly Knits owner Ron Sytz says, “These fabrics perform exactly the same as those manufactured with virgin polypropylene fiber, making them nearly plug and play for our customers. We see an endless number of applications where Purecycle’s resin can be easily incorporated into the textile, transforming the fabric into a sustainable solution without any compromises. We are excited to work with current and future customers to integrate Purecycle’s technology into cutting-edge fabrics, engineered for their specific needs.”
Polypropylene fiber is used in many industries, including apparel, textiles, and automotive. In early March, Minifibers presented the Purecycle team with a rug made from 100% Purecycle resin that was produced from post-industrial recycled (PIR) material.
Fiber samples were produced by Microfibers, which were then made used to make sample home goods. Source: Purecycle
PureCycle and Minifibers plan to continue testing use cases for other nonwoven applications.
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