What’s the latest research into recycling clothing?

Most clothes are made of a mix of natural and synthetic fibres which makes them difficult to recycle back into clothing once they’re worn out. Antonia and Laura discuss an exciting new research project that has separated four different types of fibre from a single scrap of cloth using microwaves. They compare this to an alternative method which uses enzymes found in bacteria to recycle polyester and consider what these efforts might mean for a future circular economy where clothing is infinitely recyclable. Will we ditch cotton and start wearing completely synthetic fibres?

Fact check:

• Research using microwaves, and a news article about it
• The latest news on using enzymes to break down polyester (PET).
• A perspective on using enzymes to recycle PET, published in a biochemistry journal
• The pilot plant operated by Carbios, that Antonia mentions
• News about mountains of clothing waste in the Atacama Desert