Welcome to follow the development of fiber from carbon dioxide!

In this European Union's Horizon funded circular economy project, the aim is to develop an industrial-scaled process and facility, where recovered carbon dioxide waste is made into polyester fiber (PET).

A facility operating on renewable energy is being planned in the Netherlands. The project is intended to advance in stages, starting with laboratory testing, moving to the demo-phase, and ending with a pilot facility. As a result of the process developed in the project, a 70% emission reduction compared to the current PET fiber production will be achieved.

The project began in January 2023 and will last until the end of 2026.

Participants

The project has a total of 13 partners. The project manager is the chemical technology company Fairbrics from France. Two universities are involved: The University of Antwerp (UANT), and the LUT University from Lappeenranta.

In addition, the participants include research and technology center Tecnalia from Spain, technology center for the plastics industry AIMPLAS from Spain, project consulting company CiaoTECH from Italy, the textile and fiber research institute DIFT from Germany, information technology company Digitech from Estonia, automotive supplier Faurecia from France, environmental consulting company Naldeo from France, Triple Helix SurePure from the Netherlands and Jacquard weaving company Les Tissages Jacquard (LTD) from Charlieu, France.

Implementation

The work packages of the project are:

1. Scaling up the Monoethylene Glycol (MEG) production process and setting up a pre-industrial pilot line.
2. Scaling up the Monoethylene Glycol (MEG) production process and setting up an industrial demo-line.
3. Production tests of polymers and fibers, fine-tuning.
4. Life cycle sustainability review.
5. Development of modular learning resources. 

The City of Lappeenranta is involved in the work package 5 led by LUT University, where teaching material is developed. The main activities are supporting the constructing and piloting of training materials, for example organizing workshops on carbon dioxide reuse for local stakeholders, dissemination and communication, and validating and piloting the training program in South Karelia.

Contact

Terhi Jantunen, +358 40 530 5958, terhi.jantunen@lappeenranta.fi