Post by matterr

👕 What’s inside a “simple” polyester T-shirt?  To improve performance, comfort and aesthetics, textiles are made from a combination of different materials. But what adds value during use, becomes a challenge at the end of life: trims, different types of fibres and auxiliaries make the recycling process more difficult.  What looks like a simple T-shirt is generally a combination of the following: - Fibre blend: polyester with elastane for durability and stretch   - Dyes: different dye systems for polyester and elastane fibres   - Additional components: e.g. neck ribbon, dyed in a different colour   - Printed logo involving pigments, binders and auxiliaries   - Brand and care labels: typically polyester or polyamide, printed and sewn in   - Consumer use: wear, washing residues, or contamination can degrade material quality, directly impacting the quality of the recycling output    ♻️ The combination of these elements makes recycling much harder to achieve in practice. At matterr, we are working on solutions that can handle complexity to keep polyester textiles in the loop.