Enzymes That "Unmake" Polyester
CARBIOS and textile-to-textile circularity
CARBIOS describes enzymatic recycling where enzymes break polyester into basic components that can be used to make high-quality recycled PET, enabling true "fiber-to-fiber" circularity. They've publicized garments made from 100% textile waste via their process—rare compared to the common "bottle-to-fiber" recycling.
The Story Angle
Most "recycled polyester" comes from plastic bottles, not old textiles. True textile-to-textile recycling is technically harder—dyes, finishes, and blends complicate the process. Enzymatic depolymerization breaks PET back to its monomers regardless of color or contamination.
A luxury brand could offer "closed-loop couture": buy a piece with a guaranteed chemical pathway back into new fiber—like a watch with lifetime servicing, but molecular.
Why It Matters for Luxury
Enzymatic recycling enables luxury's circularity narrative to become chemically real. A brand could guarantee that a garment's materials will return to new garments—verifiable molecular circularity, not vague "recycling" claims.
Research
- Chemical Recycling of Mixed Textile Waste (Science Advances) — Depolymerization pathway for mixed textile streams (August 2024)
- Enzymatic PET recycling: advances and challenges (Rev. Environ. Sci. & Biotech.) — Enzymatic PET recycling landscape (June 2024)
Product / Brand Links
- CARBIOS — Enzymatic PET recycling platform
- CARBIOS Technology — Biorecycling process overview
- CARBIOS Newsroom — Textile‑to‑textile recycling updates
Primary Sources
- CARBIOS: First clothing line made from 100% textile waste — January 2025
- European Commission: Textiles and Waste Policy — September 2024