Recycled PET waste becomes spinnable yarn
Climate Leading Process Industry facilitates progress in the recycling of PET. Tests demonstrate that plastic waste from rivers and landfills can be converted into new, industry-grade raw material.
Klimatledande Processindustri has funded and initiated a collaboration, the End of Waste project, between Reparell Innovation, RISE, and BASF, which now demonstrates that heavily degraded PET waste from rivers and landfills can be upgraded into industrial-grade raw material. In tests conducted at RISE in Mölndal during the first quarter of 2026, material previously deemed unusable was stabilised through a thermomechanical process combined with molecular chain extenders from BASF. The degraded PET material could subsequently be processed without breaking down and, for the first time, spun into yarn, representing a significant step towards commercial quality.
From waste to industrial feedstock
The results address a growing challenge in Europe: the availability of high-quality recycled polymers. While demand for circular materials is increasing rapidly, only around nine per cent of all plastic is currently recycled globally.
“We have shown that even heavily degraded PET can be stabilised and returned to the industry as raw material. This is crucial if European industry is to secure its future supply of circular polymers,” says Emil Pettersen, CEO of Reparell Innovation.
The project has been carried out within the framework of Klimatledande Processindustri, which through funding and collaboration creates the necessary conditions for the transition within the Swedish chemical and process industries.
“By enabling tests of this kind, we can help reduce dependence on virgin raw materials and strengthen the development of industrially viable circular material solutions,” says Hanna Paradis, Programme Manager for Klimatledande Processindustri.
Validation and scaling up for a global market
The method has been validated together with RISE and BASF. The next step is a field pilot in Albania during the third quarter of 2026, where collected river waste will be converted into pellets for further industrial use. The objective is to produce 10 tonnes of verified raw material for a global industrial player, aiming to demonstrate the process on an industrial scale and confirm that the technology serves as a long-term, scalable solution for raw material supply to European and global industry.
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End of Waste - från plastavfall till råvara
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