Melt it, spin it, use it again

The average American throws out around 81 pounds of clothing each year, and there are few options for recycling it. MIT engineers hope to cut down on that textile waste with a new type of yarn.

美国人平均每年丢弃约 81 磅的衣物，而回收这些衣物的选择却寥寥无几。麻省理工学院的工程师们希望通过一种新型纱线来减少这种纺织品浪费。

The thermoplastic yarn mimics the properties of conventional elastic yarns, which typically combine spandex with polyester or nylon. Those fibers would have to be separated for recycling—a process that isn’t practical.

这种热塑性纱线模仿了传统弹性纱线的特性，后者通常将氨纶与聚酯纤维或尼龙结合在一起。这些纤维在回收时必须进行分离，而这一过程并不切实际。

But the MIT team found a way to create a similarly stretchy yarn from two variations of polyethylene, a material commonly used in milk jugs and grocery bags. Because they come from the same chemical family, the yarn can be melted as is.

但麻省理工学院的团队找到了一种方法，利用两种聚乙烯（一种常用于牛奶罐和购物袋的材料）制造出同样具有弹性的纱线。由于它们来自同一个化学家族，这种纱线可以直接熔化。

Svetlana Boriskina, who led the work as a research scientist in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, says a garment made from this material could then be spun into new yarn for a next generation of clothing. Even after 10 cycles of melting and respinning, the yarn stays as strong and flexible as conventional thread.

作为机械工程系的研究科学家，领导这项工作的斯维特拉娜·博里斯基纳（Svetlana Boriskina）表示，用这种材料制成的服装可以被重新纺成新纱线，用于制造下一代服装。即使经过 10 次熔化和重新纺丝，这种纱线依然保持着与传统线材相同的强度和柔韧性。

“Now we have something that can be knitted and woven,” Boriskina says. “That is the next stage.” Someday, the researchers hope, a polyethylene garment could be dropped in a collection bin and sent to a recycling facility, promoting a more sustainable, circular textile economy.

“现在我们有了可以进行针织和机织的材料，”博里斯基纳说，“这就是下一个阶段。”研究人员希望，有朝一日，聚乙烯服装可以被投入回收箱并送往回收设施，从而促进更可持续的循环纺织经济。