The mission of Accelerating Circularity is to create new supply chains and business models to turn textile waste into mainstream raw materials and its new working group aims to share the benefits of chemical textile recycling.

“We formed this collective to move chemical recycling technology forward, share common definitions, and address policies in a collaborative way to maximise the elimination of textile waste to landfills and incineration,” explained Karla Magruder, Founder and President of Accelerating Circularity. “Chemical recycling technology has many benefits, including quality more similar to virgin fibre and the ability to recycle multiple times.”

ACTR plans to provide the industry with information on how textile chemical recycling can:

• Offer solutions for diverting textile waste to landfill
• Enable textile to textile recycling versus incineration/landfill
• Provide sustainably sourced/circular materials
• Support brand/retailers/producers in achieving their CO2 reduction targets
• Provide long term price stability and consistent supply of raw materials versus virgin.

Members of the Alliance include founding members Eastman, Lenzing, and The Lycra Company, as well as Circ, Sappi, Renewcell, Infinited fiber, Worn Again Technologies, Gr3n, CuRe Technology, and OnceMore from Sodra.

As a first step, the ACTR (Alliance of Chemical Textile Recycling) is introducing a dictionary of common terms developed to educate the industry on the chemical recycling of textiles.

Earlier this year, Accelerating Circularity launched a textile-to-textile recycling guide designed to help stakeholders implement circular systems within the fashion supply chain.