Clean Separation
Most textile recycling today relies on either chemical processes or shredding. Chemical recycling breaks fibres down using solvents or enzymes but is often energy-intensive, costly and many depend on hazardous substances. Shredding on the other hand mechanically reduces textiles into short, weak fibres, suitable only for downcycling into insulation or filling.
Again many solutions are needed to combat the textile waste epidemic.
Poly/cotton blends combine the worst aspects of both materials: cotton’s water and land footprint with polyester’s fossil fuel dependence and micro-plastic pollution. These blends are extremely difficult to recycle and current methods either destroy a fibre or fibre quality.
Split Ends directly addresses this gap.
Recycling without Toxic Chemicals
Currently at proof-of-concept stage, this innovation is seeking global investors to help validate, scale and integrate the process in a micro-factory at Deakin University. By aligning with forward-thinking brands, recyclers, equipment manufacturers and policymakers, there is an opportunity to accelerate a transition from downcycling and disposal towards genuine circularity. With the ability to reintroduce cotton into the agriculture sector and polyester back into textiles, this innovation offers a practical, scalable solution to one of the textile industry’s greatest environmental challenges
The Split Ends innovation introduces a new era of textile recycling by a patent-pending method, separating polyester and cotton fibres without chemicals. Unlike chemical recycling, this approach avoids toxic inputs and high energy costs. Unlike shredding, it preserves the integrity of each fibre so that both cotton and polyester can be reused at their original value.