The Ludwigshafen-based chemical company BASF has taken on a problem in the textile and clothing industry, namely the growing mountain of used clothing. Many of these old clothes contain chemicals, i.e. artificially produced fibers such as fully synthetic ones made from petroleum or coal – polyester, polyamide (also called nylon), polyacrylic and elastane. As a chemical company, BASF supplies the textile and clothing industry with polyamide and is therefore part of the problem.
BASF’s innovation Loopamid was presented at a research briefing on Thursday. As the name suggests, it is recycled polyamide that is intended to close the loop and can be made from both post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste.
BASF’s Loopamid is made entirely from textile waste
“Loopamid is the first polyamide 6 that is made entirely from textile waste – and the focus here is clearly on ‘complete’. We use textile waste exclusively as a raw material, nothing else,” explains Dag Wiebelhaus, Head of Global Product Innovation Monomers at BASF, in his presentation.
Polyamides (PA) are differentiated by their monomers, i.e. the small, reactive molecules that form the basic building blocks for larger, complex molecules (polymers). BASF decided to focus on polyamide 6 because it is the most commonly used.
“We thought that it was a valuable material that ended up in the waste. Can we perhaps somehow return it to the cycle and thus create a circular solution in which the material remains in a closed cycle? This would actually reduce the amount of waste, natural raw materials would also be saved that would otherwise be consumed, and thirdly, we would also reduce CO₂ emissions,” says Wiebelhaus, outlining the initial considerations about two years ago.
Fun fact: This is nothing new for BASF, as the company had already pioneered the recycling of polyamide 6 in the last century and registered the first patents in the 1940s. However, these were relatively uncomplicated types of waste with a high proportion of polyamide 6, such as household waste, carpet remnants or fishing nets.
challenges
However, recycling textile waste is more complex and requires very robust technologies, as textiles typically contain paints, other fibers, dyes, coatings and, in the case of polyamide, very often an elastic fiber called elastane.
“When we looked at the entire cycle, we realized that we had to solve three problems at the same time: First, we had to process the waste so that it could be chemically recycled. Second, we had to do the chemical recycling and third, we had to clean the elastane to convert it back into the colorless material that our customers are used to,” reports Wiebelhaus.
So it all started with the raw material – textile waste with a high polyamide-6 content, such as lingerie, outdoor or sports clothing. To this end, BASF cooperates with numerous sorting partners across Europe, most of whom still carry out this work manually. “And even if they do an excellent job, which they do, we end up with a starting material that contains perhaps 80 or 90 percent polyamide-6, but the rest consists of other substances. So we are still dealing with a very complex mixture that ends up in the chemical recycling process,” explains Wiebelhaus. [Die restlichen 20 Prozent werden verbrannt und so zur Energiegewinnung genutzt.]
He goes on to say that unfortunately this sorting is not currently taking place to any significant extent. “Although the relevant technologies have largely been developed, there is a lack of investment in large-scale systems. This currently represents a bottleneck for scaling the entire industry,” he emphasizes.
When asked whether BASF might want to operate its own sorting plant, Wiebelhaus says no: “We are interested in cooperation [mit Sortierbetrieben] decided because it is more of a physical work step. That is not our core competency. We would therefore like to bring in our core competency, the chemical process. But there are partners who are much better positioned for sorting. That’s why we decided to work closely with them and support them in the best possible way.”
The advantage of polyamide-6 is that it only contains one monomer, the so-called caprolactam, which makes cleaning much easier. A proprietary process ensures the production of caprolactam in very high chemical yields. BASF also used its in-house expertise to test various cleaning processes. Ultimately, five different procedures were combined to achieve the best possible result.
“From the beginning, our goal was to offer our customers a product that can be used immediately. They should not notice any difference between conventional polyamide 6 and our Loopamid. It must have the same degree of purity and the same specifications as pure polyamide 6. The intended application is high-speed spinning for clothing production,” explains Wiebelhaus.
Collaborations with Zara and Adidas
To show that Loopamid doesn’t just work in the laboratory, the chemist named two collaborations with clothing brands that have already used the innovative fiber: Firstly, Zara for a jacket. This is a mono-material garment, meaning all parts are made from the same material – not just the outer material but also buttons, zippers and lining.
Another collaboration is T-REX (short for Textile Recycling Excellence), an EU-funded project led by Adidas. His goal is to develop a blueprint for a circular economy in Europe’s textile industry. For Wiebelhaus, this is proof that textile-to-textile recycling is already a reality today.
Cost and scaling
As for costs, they have come down over time, but BASF is still just getting started. “As with all new technologies, everything is initially small and expensive. As the scale increases, the costs fall. So it’s a bit like a chicken and egg question, but as soon as the costs fall, I think the demand will also increase,” says Wiebelhaus.
For him, consumers’ willingness to pay is a crucial factor. “It would be helpful if consumers paid, for example, one or two euros more to promote a circular economy.”
“The industry could grow much faster if the products were more competitive. Therefore, companies are hesitant to invest in sorting facilities because they do not know whether their materials are actually being recycled. And recycling companies may not grow because sorted waste is not available. And perhaps consumers are not buying enough yet,” says Wiebelhaus when asked when the textile recycling industry will reach a level where some of the current problems, such as lack of sophistication and excessive separation, can be overcome and techniques such as these become more efficient and cost-effective become. “Personally, I am convinced that it will happen because the technologies are there. It works,” he adds.
Solutions like BASF’s Loopamid are a step in the right direction for the clothing and textile industry, as they have a chance to deal with the mountain of old clothing with its high content of chemical fibers. The fact that Loopamid is a pure recycled fiber without any new fiber content should limit the use of new raw materials. The advantage of chemical recycling processes is that the recycled fiber can be recycled multiple times or, theoretically, over and over again. Actual use will show how this can be implemented in practice in the long term.