Regenerated fiber is produced by recycling waste materials such as plastic bottles, textiles, and fishing nets. After professional processing, these materials are transformed into new fabrics, effectively reducing resource waste and environmental pollution. Compared to conventional fabrics, regenerated fabrics can lower energy consumption by up to 80%, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and achieve resource circularity.
This approach directly recovers waste fibers through mechanical or physical processes, primarily including melt spinning and mechanical opening:
Melt Spinning: Recycled polyester materials (e.g., plastic bottles or textiles) are sorted, cleaned, and dried before being melted and spun directly into new fibers. This process is simple, cost-effective, and currently the dominant method for regenerated polyester fiber production (accounting for about 70%–80% of the market) .
Mechanical Opening: Applied to natural fibers like cotton, this method involves physical crushing and opening to produce short fibers. However, it may reduce fiber strength .
This approach utilizes chemical reactions to depolymerize waste fibers into monomers or oligomers, which are then repolymerized and spun into new fibers. It primarily includes depolymerization regeneration and the solvent-based method :
Depolymerization Regeneration: This method targets synthetic fibers like polyester or nylon. Through reactions such as hydrolysis or alcoholysis, the polymers are broken down into their constituent monomers (e.g., terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol from PET). After purification, these monomers are repolymerized. This process can handle blended or contaminated fibers, and the resulting fiber quality is close to that of virgin materials .
