Summary

Plaxtil is a French materials innovation company based in Châtellerault that has developed a process for turning non-recyclable textile and clothing waste into a new composite material — a sustainable alternative to 100% petroleum-based plastic. The material, also called Plaxtil, is made by mixing unsorted textile waste (anything from old garments to face masks) with a resin matrix, preserving the natural fibers within and producing a material with mechanical properties equivalent to, or stronger than, standard plastic. Their material is 100% natural and biodegradable and is itself recyclable The material can be moulded into a wide range of forms and finishes, making it applicable across industries — from fashion and textiles to automotive, construction, and healthcare. For the fashion industry in particular, Plaxtil offers a genuine circular solution: the textile waste that would otherwise be burned or landfilled is transformed into a new raw material that can re-enter production. Plaxtil is endorsed by the Solar Impulse Foundation as one of its 1,000 solutions for a clean and profitable future. (Source)

Story

Plaxtil was founded by Olivier Civil and Jean-Marc Neveu, two industrialists from the Châtellerault region of France. The idea grew out of a research project begun in 2017, developed in partnership with the New Aquitaine Region, the Grand Châtellerault authority, and French environmental agencies Eco-TLC and ADEME. The company was officially launched at K2019 — the international plastics industry trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany. Its founders were driven by an urgent problem: the textile industry is widely considered the second most polluting industry in the world, and at the end of a garment’s life, 73% of used clothing ends up burned or in landfill. Less than 1% of textiles used to make clothing is ever recycled back into new clothing. When the Covid-19 pandemic created a secondary crisis — billions of single-use face masks entering the waste stream — Plaxtil was one of the first companies to develop a safe, scalable process for collecting and recycling them, bringing masks back into the material loop rather than letting them pile up in landfill or the environment. The company has since expanded its model to cover a wide range of textile and mixed plastic waste streams, positioning itself as a circular economy gateway for manufacturers across multiple sectors.

Pic credit: Core 77 (top) and Recycling International (right)