A sustainable textile research centre has been established by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in collaboration with Royal Golden Eagle (RGE), a Singapore-based greentech manufacturing company.
The RGE-NTU SusTex center seeks to promote innovation in textile recycling and use research findings to address practical issues. It will concentrate on four key areas: eco-friendly dye removal, automated textile waste sorting systems, sustainable textile recycling, and novel textile creation.
In order to create the procedures and solutions required for a circular textile economy, researchers at the S$6 million (US $4.3 million) joint centre will examine the chemical composition of diverse textile materials.
RGE, which was founded in 1973, is a manufacturer of clean natural gas, edible oils, sustainable natural fibres, and packaging. With 60,000 employees spread across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, the company’s total assets exceed US $25 billion.
Estimates state that 92 million tons of textile waste are disposed of in the environment annually. Meanwhile, just 13% of the materials used to make garments are recycled. More than all international flights and marine cargo combined, the global textile sector is responsible for 10% of all carbon emissions.
