China’s First Closed-Loop Polyester-Recycling Program

The Teijin Group announced today the first-ever program in China for collecting and recycling used garments, which it has launched in collaboration with Li Ning Company Limited, the nation’s leading sports apparel company. Recycling will be carried out with ECO CIRCLE(tm), an environmentally friendly closed-loop system incorporating the world’s first technology for the chemical recycling of polyester, which Teijin Fibers introduced in 2002.

As part of the program, Li Ning has designed tennis and training wear using Teijin Fibers’ chemically recycled ECO CIRCLE FIBERS, which are woven into textiles and dyed by Nantong Teijin Co., Limited, a Teijin group company based in Nantong, China. The inaugural 2009-10 winter lineup will be sold at 11 stores managed by Li Ning beginning in October.

Under the program, the Li Ning stores will accept these garments after they are worn out, from where they will be sent via Nantong Teijin to Teijin Fibers’ Matsuyama plant in Japan. After chemical decomposition, they will be converted into polyester raw material offering purity comparable to that derived from petroleum. The raw material will then be turned into high-quality ECO CIRCLE FIBERS, which will be used to manufacture new recyclable products

Repeated recycling achieved with the ECO CIRCLE system reduces both energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, each by approximately 80% compared to conventional petroleum-based processes that are used to produce polyester.