Ence, in collaboration with the Swedish start-up ShareTex, has achieved a new breakthrough in the textile recycling pilot plant carried out in As Pontes (A Coruña). Specifically, they have gone a step further by obtaining, for the first time, recycled cellulose from polycotton, which opens up new opportunities for the creation of more circular textile products. In this sense, the extraction of cellulose from multicomponent textile waste allows progress to be made in the recycling of materials that, until now, were difficult to recover efficiently.
This is a new breakthrough announced after both companies announced last October that they had successfully carried out the first tests of textile chemical recycling through an innovative technology that does not require high pressure, temperature, nor does it use toxic solvents.
Galician Consortium for the Recycling of Post-consumer Textiles
The results obtained from the technical point of view are in addition to the recent creation of the Galician Consortium for Post-consumer Textiles, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Ence together with the EQ2 group of the University of Vigo (Ourense Campus), the University of A Coruña, the CETIM and AIMEN technology centres, and the Galician textile recycling companies Insertega and Coleo, as well as the start-up ShareTex.
The aim of this consortium is to develop an R&D&I platform for the innovative recycling of post-consumer textile waste, thus contributing to the fulfilment of the European Union’s environmental objectives and promoting greater recycling capacity in Galicia and throughout Spain.
Industrial project in As Pontes
Ence will carry out an investment of up to 355 million in the implementation of the three phases of its overall project in As Pontes, a project that will generate about 1,250 jobs. With regard to these phases, the first will involve the implementation of a recovered fibre plant, which includes a pilot plant for the recovery of textile fibres; the second involves a cogeneration plant with 150 MW of thermal power and around 50 MW of electrical power; and the third, a tissue plant.
