RECYCLING POLYESTER TEXTILES INTO RAW MATERIALS FOR INJECTION MOLDING

The fashion industry is a major contributor to global waste, making the development of sustainable textile recycling methods increasingly urgent1. Polyester, mainly composed of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), is widely present in post-consumer garments and offers potential as a feedstock for high-value applications. This study explores a dual focus: the effect of color sorting on the properties of recycled materials and the comparative efficiency of various commercial chain extenders during reprocessing. Post-consumer PET garments, separated into dark and light colors, were compacted into flakes by a patented new method2 and extruded with chain extenders containing anhydride, oxazoline, or epoxide reactive groups3. The resulting materials were evaluated for melt fluidity, injection molding shrinkage, and thermo-mechanical performance. While dark-colored samples exhibited more pronounced degradation, all chain extenders contributed to controlling melt flow. Among them, the bisoxazoline-based additive stood out for significantly improving the ductility of both dark and light-colored samples. These results demonstrate not only the importance of color sorting in achieving consistent aesthetics but also highlight the varying effectiveness of chain extenders in enhancing reprocessability and final properties. This approach supports circular economy strategies and provides a scalable route for transforming textile waste into high-performance injection-molded products.