Recycled fabrics are transforming global fashion
In a warehouse near Kettering on the A14 road, crumpled garments—including dressing gowns, duvets, event banners, and lanyards—are fed into machinery as part of Project Re:Claim. All items originate from polyester, the world's most widely used textile fibre.
The partnership between The Salvation Army’s trading arm (SATCoL) and Plan B Circular operates what it claims is Europe’s first commercial-scale facility for recycling polyester textiles into pellets—known as rPET. This process adapts technology originally developed for plastic bottle recycling.
Items collected by SATCoL are shredded and melted; impurities such as dead skin cells or hair are removed to produce high-quality rPET pellets that can be reused in new clothing products.
Tech and scale: 500kg per hour
Tim Cross, founder of Plan B Circular, says the plant processes up to 500 kilograms of fabric hourly. He notes that scaling operations would depend on market demand but emphasizes a key challenge: encouraging manufacturers to shift from virgin polyester to recycled polyester and design garments for easy end-of-life recycling.
Cross adds that items like blazers do not need nylon buttons or metal zips—such features could all be replaced with polyester components, simplifying recyclability.
The facility only accepts textiles made entirely of polyester. Most clothing contains blends such as polyester-cotton or multiple materials, making full separation difficult at scale. Majonne Frost, head of sustainability at SATCoL, explains researchers are testing fibre-separation methods, though large-scale implementation remains costly and unproven.
Project Re:Claim reports its rPET requires 89% less carbon to produce than virgin polyester. The pellets are shipped to China in empty shipping containers where they are spun into yarn for new garments. Pellets failing quality tests are repurposed—such as being used in car mats.
Gen Phoenix transforms waste leather
In Peterborough, Gen Phoenix processes scraps of 'wet blue' leather from the food industry’s tanning process. These offcuts are sorted, shredded, and reformed using water jets into a new fabric with properties similar to traditional leather but an 80% lower carbon footprint and reduced weight.
The company has recycled over 18,000 tonnes of material from landfill since its inception. Its products have been adopted by major brands including Dr Martens, Nike, and Coach—among others—and it supplies seating for commercial aircraft.
John Kennedy, chief executive at Gen Phoenix, states Jet2 was the first commercial customer; today, one in every five commercial flights uses the firm’s material. Paul Southall, head of sustainability at Jet2, praises the partnership: 'The innovative material is much lighter than traditional leather, reducing fuel burn and CO₂ emissions.' He adds that the fabric can be recycled into new aircraft seats at end-of-life, closing the loop on waste.
The company notes that animal hides produce significant offcuts—including necks, shoulders, armpits, and bellies—that are typically discarded but could now be salvaged through its process.
EU legislation drives change
New EU rules require fashion brands sold in Europe to demonstrate product sustainability. These regulations mandate not only use of recycled materials but also ensure garments remain recyclable at their end-of-life stages.
The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) supports this shift by funding the UK Textiles Pact, which sets ambitious targets to reduce textile waste and extend material life cycles. Defra is also leading a taskforce with experts and businesses to identify ways to cut household and business-level waste—expected to report findings later in 2024.