Recycling Plastic Bottles To Make Yarns - Trim Engineering Services

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Recycling Plastic Bottles to Make Yarns - Trim
Engineering Services
Today, more and more people are leaning towards
using recycled materials. As we see, billions of
plastic bottles are discarded every year into the
bins. Textile researchers have come up with a
unique solution to reduce this waste and turn it
into something useful. Looking at the
recognition and concern for eco-friendliness,
they have come up with one of the best
technologies, where plastic bottles can now be
recycled to make clothing yarns! The clothing
industry is a very heavy user of resources, which
is why this invention has proven to be a boon
for the industry. This new development has
resulted in lots of benefits like reduction in
energy consumption, reduction in CO2 emissions,
oil preservation, and decrease in wastage at
dumps. This latest technology has come from a
Swiss fiber spinning company, Trützschler, in
partnership with leading plastic recycling
solution provider EREMA. Both these companies
have developed a one-step system for
pre-processing and spinning polyester flakes into
Bulk Continuous Filament (BCF) yarn for carpet
applications. The yarn produced has amazing
efficiency, excellent process stability, and low
transformation costs. Also, the fabric made from
these fibers can be easily dyed, while having
higher stain resistance. PET is the resin that
is used to make transparent, light, shatterproof
bottles for juices, soft drinks, water, and
alcohol. The fabric made out of PET fiber is
basically polypropylene, which is ten times
stronger than a normal polyester fabric. However,
weaving or knitting these yarns requires very
heavy machines.
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How are plastic bottles transformed into
yarns? The PET bottles tossed into the recycled
bin are sorted at a recycling facility and
bundled together in large bales, which are then
taken to a PET reclaiming facility. Here, the
bottles are de-capped, de-labeled, thoroughly
cleaned, and separated by colour. The bottles are
then put into a grinder to be ground into small
flakes, which are tossed in hot air to give them
a hard coating. They are then dried to remove any
remaining moisture. These dry and crispy flakes
are shoved through hot pipes to melt them into a
thick liquid. This liquid is then filtered
through a dye plate with tiny holes, forming
filaments that are five times finer than human
hair. These filaments are cooled and hardened,
after which they are sent over rollers, where
air entangles with them to create a floss-like
yarn. This yarn is then pulled over hot metal
rollers to stretch them and realign the polyester
molecules to form the final end product. How
yarns are chemically and mechanically
produced? Today, many large scale industries have
adopted this technology, and are producing high-
end yarns from plastic fibers. They may use any
one of the two approaches chemical and
mechanical. Chemical recycling The old plastic
is broken down into its original monomers through
hydrolysis, glycolysis, or methanolysis. The
monomers produced are then used to manufacture
new plastic granulate through polymerization,
which are then used to spin high-end yarns.
However, this kind of chemical recycling requires
greater energy consumption and high capital
investment. Mechanical recycling The plastic
waste is melted without any chemical
decomposition, which is then either processed
directly into the end product, or first
granulated into chips. Recycling systems
available in the market can today process various
forms of waste, which is shredded, melted, and
re-granulated. Amazing technology isnt it!? If
such yarns can be used in your particular
industry and application, there can be nothing
better than that! However, whatever yarn you use,
you definitely need bobbins and spools to wind
them over. So, when it comes to purchasing
bobbins, remember to approach Trim Engineering
Services, who are one of the best and most
reputed metal bobbin manufacturers in India. Stay
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