Textile Exchange’s Recycled Polyester (rPET) Round Table (previously called the rPET Working Group) is a global multi-stakeholder network aiming to increase the uptake of recycled polyester. The Round Table is led by Elayne Masterson of Fabrikology and currently has over 90 individual members from 56 companies/organizations. Members meet virtually every month, with an annual Round Table Summit alongside Textile Exchange’s annual conference.
When
October 15, 2019, 2-6pm
Where
Vancouver, BC
The 2019 Recycled Polyester (rPET) Round Table Summit took place in Vancouver on October 15 during Textile Exchange’s 2019 Textile Sustainability Conference and was our biggest yet, with almost 200 participants in attendance. The afternoon was packed with unique insights from industry experts into the most topical issues facing the sector right now. Attendees dug deeper and put speakers to the test by asking some very thought-provoking questions.
Thank you to ESTS Global for being a Contributor level sponsor of the 2019 rPET Round Table.
Thanks to the 2019 conference sponsors supporting this Round Table:



Topics covered included:
- A call to action put forward by Samsonite to “change your goal”,
- Microfibre release update from The Microfibre Consortium,
- Technology developments including examples from JEPLAN, Eastman, and Tyton BioSciences,
- GRS update presented by Textile Exchange,
- UNFCCC & ACP updates presented by Fabrikology,
- rPET Round Table Government Working Group update presented by group co-lead Traci Kinden,
- Legislation updates and examples presented by EURATEX and National Stewardship Action Council.



Agenda
2:00 Opening
Elayne Masterson, Contributing Partner | Fabrikology International
2:05 Call to Action
Janel Twogood, Senior Design Director | Samsonite
2:15 Microfibers
Sophie Mather, Material Futurist | biov8tion Ltd
2:40 Technology Developments
Yukari Ishizu, Senior Manager | Jeplan Inc.
Holli Alexander, Strategic Initiatives Manager | Eastman
Peter Majeranowski, CEO | Tyton Biosciences3:55 Break
4:15 Global recycled standard
Ashley Gill, Senior Manager of Industry Integrity | Textile Exchange
4:40 UNFCCC / APC
Karla Magruder, Founder | Fabrikology International
4:55 Legislation
Traci Kinden, President | REvolve Waste
Mauro Scalia, Director Sustainable Businesses | Euratex
Heidi Sanborn, Executive Director & Joanne Brasch, Special Projects Manager | US National Stewardship Action Council5:55 Close
Elayne Masterson, Contributing Partner | Fabrikology International
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2018 rPET ROUND TABLE IN MILAN
More than 100 stakeholders with different expertise and backgrounds including suppliers, brands and researchers participated in the Recycled Polyester Round Table Summit at Textile Exchange’s Textile Sustainability Conference in Milan on October 22, 2018, which was kindly sponsored by NSF. The meeting was hosted by Fabrikology’s Karla Magruder, previous Chair of Textile Exchange’s rPET Round Table (since succeeded by Fabrikology’s Elayne Masterson), with support from Sevilla Granger of Textile Exchange.

2018 Partner

MARKET UPDATES
Susan Mair and Matt Tudball of ICIS presented some of the latest figures:
- 70 million tons global PET capacity
- 66% goes to fiber – 57 million tons
- By 2030 20% will be rPET
- China has 69% of PET capacity
- China ban – increased virgin and move to other Asian countries


MARKET COLLABORATIONS
Maurizio Crippa, CEO of Gr3n, presented on rPET in bottles:
- 5% of global PET is recycled
- Textiles create 33 MT of textile waste and recycles < 0.1 MT
- Packaging creates 23 MT of packaging waste and recycles 9 MT
- Packaging companies are making large commitments, there’s not enough material to meet commitments.
- Packaging companies have partnered with new chemical recycling technologies

MICROFIBERS

Katy Stevens, Sustainability Project Manager at the European Outdoor Group, showcased the Outdoor Microfiber Consortium.
- An industry response to actively understand the problem of microfibre shedding and develop industry based solutions.
- This collaborative, brand driven approach encourages more in depth research projects, and facilitates greater levels of understanding and solution building than would be achievable alone.
Look out for the report out of project results at ISPO.
rpet Round Table: Where we need to go…2030
Legislation
- Clear bottles
- Collection
- rPET mandatory % product content
- Preferential tariffs
Quality
- Standardize chip quality
- GRS use as baseline
Brands & Retailers
- Economics
- Support new technologies
- Match performance to products
- Cross industry collaborations
Consumer Awareness
- Campaigns to support multi-sector use
- Storytelling
- Youth education






Textile Exchange wants to thank again our 2018 rPET Round Table sponsor NSF, as well as all participants.
We very much look forward to continuing these discussions.
Why a recycled polyester round table?
Polyester is a manmade fiber, synthesized from petrochemical products by a process called polymerization. With 49% of the global fiber production, polyester is the most widely used fiber in the apparel sector: more than 63,000 million tonnes of polyester fiber are produced annually. Production of polyester fabric involves significant quantities of chemicals, raw materials and by-products that are toxic and can pollute water and air and cause health issues.
Recycled polyester is promoted by Textile Exchange as a preferred fiber. It can be either mechanically or chemically recycled, with feedstock consisting of either pre- or post-consumer waste that can no longer be used for its intended purpose. This includes returns of materials from the distribution chain.
There is more to do to reach economies of scale. Challenges are still to be overcome in the factory, the marketplace, and in communities where recycling and bring-back schemes need to start.
Textile Exchange’s Recycled Polyester Round Table aims to transform business – move from linear to circular, and to find solutions to technical, societal, and commercial barriers to growth.
If you are interested in joining this Round Table or attending a future annual meeting, please contact Materials@TextileExchange.org.
Round Table Goals
- Replace the use of virgin PET with rPET
- Create price parity based on product performance, quality and sustainable profiles
- Increase rPET availability
- Improve education around rPET and circularity
rPET Round Table Timeline
Jul 2016
Launch
Sep 2016
Goals established
Oct 2016
First in-person meeting, held during Textile Exchange’s Hamburg conference.
Sept 2017
rPET Commitment Launched
Oct 2017
2017 rPET Round Table, Washington DC
May 2018
First mid-year in-person meeting, held alongside Copenhagen Fashion Summit
Sep 2018
rPET Commitment Reached (25% goal exceeded by 11% two years early)
Oct 2018
2018 rPET Round Table Summit, Milan, Italy
Jan 2019
Working Groups formed
Oct 2019
2019 rPET Round Table Summit, Vancouver BC
Working Groups
At the start of 2019, the rPET Round Table formed four Working Groups to dive deeper on particular areas. The groups are categorized key groups of players in the supply chain that it is trying to influence:
- Government
- Supply
- Consumer
- Brands/Retailer

rpet Advantages
★ Using more recycled polyester reduces our dependence on petroleum as the raw material for our fabric needs.
★ Diverting PET bottles for this process reduces landfill, and thus reduces soil contamination and air and water pollution and requires less energy than virgin polyester.
★ Garments created from recycled polyester aim to be continuously recycled with no degradation of quality, allowing us to minimize wastage. This means polyester garment manufacture could potentially become a closed loop system.
Download Factsheet
rpet Challenges
★ Solving quality issues through contaminations of various additives like antioxidants, pigments, stabilizers or anti blocking agent and shortening of the polymer chain at de-polymerization stage.
★ Finding substitutions for antimony, a polyester catalyst known to be cancer causing (potentially 500mg/kg PET).
★ Ensuring constant industrial feedstock and closing the loop by fostering feedstock from textile pre- and post consumer waste.
★ Achieving traceability and transparency in the collecting, sorting and processing with social and fair conditions.
★ Looking at lifecycle considerations: biodegradability and recyclability of polymers.
★ Outreaches to other synthetic polymers: What are the future polymers?
★ Transition towards renewable biogenic feedstock turning into technological fibers.
Quick Links

About organic cotton
Organic cotton is cotton that is produced and certified to organic agricultural standards.
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2018 Market reports
The 2018 Preferred Fiber & Materials Market Report and the Organic Cotton Market Report are now available.
Read moreCorporate Fiber & Materials Benchmark
The Corporate Fiber & Materials Benchmark helps companies measure, manage and integrate a preferred fiber & materials strategy.
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A framework for assessing the environmental, social & economic impacts of organic cotton agriculture.
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contact us
For more information, don’t hesitate to contact the team at: Materials@textileexchange.org