I-Corps: Recycling system for converting cellulosic and polyester components of textile waste into recycled thread

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛/商业潜力是发展一个纺织品回收系统，将丢弃的纺织废料分类和再循环成新的、可重复使用的线。每年产生的纺织废料超过9300万吨，但其中1%被回收用于生产新的纺织品。这种浪费的发生是由于回收行业无法以低成本对纺织废物进行分类以进行有效回收，导致纺织品回收成本过高。在进入化学处理之前，该系统将纺织废料按材料自动分类，将废料中的纤维素和聚酯成分转化为100%可回收的线。这项拟议中的技术可以将全球93%以上的纺织废料回收利用，制成比原棉便宜50%的线。然后，回收的线可以卖给现有的纺织品制造商，用于编织、刺绣等。此外，拟议的过程可能有助于获得当地的低成本纺织品生产原料，从而使在指定的经济不利地区进行本地化纺织品生产成为可能。拟议的回收技术可能会对减少纺织业的环境足迹产生重大影响，因为它减少了纺织品填埋垃圾以及用于制造纺织品的水、土地和杀虫剂的使用。I-Corps项目的基础是开发综合回收系统，该系统使用机器人和人工智能（AI）自动分类纺织废料，并使用化学回收过程将分类后的纺织废料转化为新的可重复使用的纱线。建议回收系统的输入是来自现有纺织品收集公司的散装消费后纺织品。拟议的回收系统利用近红外光谱和图像处理技术，根据材料和颜色对纺织废料进行分类，利用人工智能提高分类的准确性。然后纺织品经过化学预处理，化学分离聚酯纤维和纤维素纤维（纤维素是棉花和其他植物基纺织品的主要成分）。该预处理过程根据材料和颜色百分比进行调整，旨在从化学过程中获得最高的材料收率。最后一步是再生新的回收线，这些线可以卖给现有的纺织品制造商，同时提供可持续的解决方案。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a textile recycling system that sorts and recycles discarded textile waste into new, reusable thread. More than 93 million tons of textile waste are generated annually, but 1% of this waste is recycled for new textile production. This waste occurs due to the recycling industry’s inability to inexpensively sort textile waste for efficient recycling, resulting in textile recycling being prohibitively expensive. The proposed system automates the sorting of textile waste by material, before entering a chemical treatment that converts cellulosic and polyester components of the waste into 100% recycled thread. The proposed technology may allow for over 93% of all global textile waste to be recycled into thread that would be 50% cheaper than virgin cotton. The recycled thread may then be sold to existing textile manufacturers for weaving, embroidery, etc. In addition, the proposed process may facilitate access to local, low-cost raw materials for textile production, enabling the possibility of localized textile production in designated, economically disadvantaged zones. The proposed recycling technology may have a significant impact in reducing the textile industry’s environmental footprint, by reducing textile landfill waste as well as the use of water, land, and pesticides that are used to make textiles.This I-Corps project is based on the development of an integrated recycling system that uses robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically sort textile waste and a chemical recycling process to convert sorted textile waste into new, reusable thread. The input to the proposed recycling system is bulk, post-consumer textiles sourced from existing textile collection companies. The proposed recycling system sorts the textile waste by material and color using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and image processing, leveraging AI to improve the accuracy of sorting. The textile then goes through a chemical pretreatment that chemically separates the polyester and cellulose fibers (cellulose being the main component of cotton and other plant-based textiles). This pretreatment process is tuned according to the material and color percentages, which is designed to achieve the highest material yield from the chemical process. The final step involves regenerating the new recycled thread that may be sold to existing textile manufacturers while providing a sustainable solution.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.