Recycling, Radici patents technology to separate mixed textile fibres
The innovative process allows the recovery of both nylon and lycra. In Novara a first pilot plant for the waste chain
Four years of hard work and a historic milestone. Radici Innova, the research and innovation division of the Bergamo-based Radici Group, pulled the rabbit out of the hat and solved the age-old puzzle of separating nylon from lycra once and for all.
An astonishing result since the elastomer fibre, precisely because of its characteristics of softness and comfort, wraps itself around the polyamide in an inextricable manner and is difficult to separate from it. But this did not stop the obstinacy of the researchers who succeeded.
Outside of technical jargon, this means that from now on, the company will be able to recover nylon and lycra from a garment made of different types of fibres and make them available for the creation and manufacture of new fabrics. In other words, from an old swimming costume can be born tights, which in turn will give life to tights or sportswear in an endless cycle.
'Eighty per cent of discarded garments,' explains Stefano Alini, managing director of Radici Innova, 'end up in landfills. According to a Boston Consulting study, this accumulation corresponds to $150 billion in wasted raw materials. Needless to say, an extraordinary opportunity for the environment and for the fight against pollution is the opportunity to recycle waste and second-hand goods".
Of the recycling technique - internationally patented and therefore covered by industrial secrecy - we know that it is based on selective dissolution capable of treating mixed textile waste by recovering the different fibres (nylon and Lycra) from it, making them available for new garments. The process also does not use toxic solvents, not even flammable rather environmentally friendly ones, and is applicable to the main types of nylon, Pa 6 and Pa 66; it is also economically viable because it allows both nylon and Lycra to be recovered, regardless of their percentage composition, as well as the solvent. The recovery of both fibres for the production of new yarns allows a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of more than 50% compared to the use of virgin material.
