Why You Can’t Recycle Your Pants (Until Now)

Have you ever *recycled* a T-shirt? You might be able to soon. Lots of clothing is made from cotton and polyester interwoven so closely that it’s impossible to separate them without destroying the cotton. In this episode, George tests a newly discovered technique that could solve that problem, potentially changing the way we use and get rid of our clothes. You might also like other Reactions videos: How Plastic Recycling Actually Works: Burning Forever Chemicals With Water: No, Your Microwave Isn’t Trying to Kill You: Super absorbent polymers: Can Plastic Be Composted? Why is There Plastic in Our Rain? Credits: Executive Producer: Matthew Radcliff Producers: Elaine Seward Andrew Sobey Darren Weaver Writer: George Zaidan Host: George Zaidan Scientific Consultants: Brianne Raccor, Ph.D. Jiwoong Lee, Ph.D. Yang Yang, Ph.D. Michelle Boucher, Ph.D. Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell This video displays proprietary technology developed by University of Copenhagen. Patent pending. The technology is undergoing development and is not yet commercially available. Reactions is a production of the American Chemical Society. © 2023 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved. Sources: Recycled Cotton | CottonWorks™ Enzymatic textile fiber separation for sustainable waste processing - ScienceDirect Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made | Science Advances Ab Initio Thermochemistry of Highly Flexible Molecules for Thermal Decomposition Analysis | Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation Denim Recycling Program | Madewell Chemical Structure of Cotton Fibre – Online Textile Academy Transacylation from Acid Amides to Amines Catalyzed by Carbon Dioxide | Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan The Carbon Dioxide-Catalyzed Ester Exchange Reaction | Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan Carbon Dioxide-Catalyzed Stereoselective Cyanation Reaction | ACS Catalysis CO2-Promoted Reactions: An Emerging Concept for the Synthesis of Fine Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals | ACS Catalysis CO2-catalyzed/promoted transformation of organic functional groups - ScienceDirect Recycling of waste PET into useful textile auxiliaries - ScienceDirect Hydrolysis of waste polyethylene terephthalate catalyzed by easily recyclable terephthalic acid - ScienceDirect A CO2-Catalyzed Transamidation Reaction | The Journal of Organic Chemistry Catalytic Fabric Recycling: Glycolysis of Blended PET with Carbon Dioxide and Ammonia | ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering