Teijin launches China’s first recycling program for uniforms

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The Teijin Group announced Wednesday the first program in China for collecting and recycling used uniforms, launched in collaboration with Shandong Asahi Green Source Hi-Tech Farm Co and Shandong Asahi Green Source Milk Products Co, both subsidiaries of Asahi Group Holdings.

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The uniforms will be recycled using Teijin’s Eco Circle, an environmentally friendly closed-loop system incorporating the world’s first technology for the chemical recycling of polyester, which Teijin Fibers introduced in 2002.

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As part of the program, Teijin Fibers’ chemically recyclable polyester fiber is woven into textiles and dyed by Nantong Teijin Co, a Teijin Group company in Nantong on the east coast of China. This month, high-warmth uniforms made with the recyclable textile were distributed to the some 200 employees of the two companies based in Shandong Province, also on the east coast, which produce and sell vegetables, fruits and milk.

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The uniforms will be collected after their useful lives and sent to Teijin Fibers’ Matsuyama plant in Japan. After chemical decomposition, they will be converted into polyester raw material offering purity comparable to polyester derived directly from petroleum. The raw material will then be turned into high-quality polyester for the manufacture of new recyclable products.

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Repeated recycling achieved with the Eco Circle system significantly reduces both energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional petroleum-based processes for polyester production.

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Teijin is working with more than 150 apparel and sportswear manufacturers worldwide to develop and manufacture products made from recyclable materials, as well as to collect and recycle these products at the end of their useful lives. The manufacturers include well-known brands such as Patagonia Inc in the U.S., Henri Lloyd in the UK and Quiksilver Europe in France. In China, Teijin has been collaborating with Li Ning, the nation’s largest sports apparel brand, since 2009.

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