Design for Transformation

The goal of the Design for Transformation (D4T) pilot was to demonstrate a system of technologies capable of processing mixed textile waste, while generating biomimetic outputs based on textile waste streams arising in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

As the result of the pilot project, cellulosic component of the mixed textile sample was successfully converted into glucose through enzymatic hydrolysis. The textile-derived glucose was not only found to be comparable to commercial grade glucose in performance, but in some cases outperformed it. The residual stream from the enzymatic hydrolysis step contained primarily synthetic fibres, such as polyester and nylon, as well as some remaining cellulose due to incomplete hydrolysis. This stream was successfully gasified into syngas.

This report contains the pilot’s experimental setup and results.