# Selective depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) for economical closed-loop recycling of mixed textiles

Source: [nature.com](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78713-4) · 2026-11-07 · Life
Page: https://themorning.science/story/selective-depolymerization-of-poly-ethylene-terephthalate-for-economical-closed-cadd8c0a11d2dea5
Kind: research · Impact: medium

## In brief

- Researchers report a selective depolymerization method for PET recovered from thermally treated mixed textiles.
- The stated goal is recovering polymerization-grade monomers from waste textiles, which the authors describe as a challenge so far.
- The work is published in Nature Communications (doi:10.1038/s41467-026-78713-4).

## Why it matters

Recovering monomers of usable quality from mixed textile waste could make closed-loop PET recycling of clothing more economical, according to the paper's framing. Details of the process and its economics are not available in the provided source excerpt.

## Timeline

- 2026-11-07: Published online in Nature Communications

## Coverage

- [Selective depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) for economical closed-loop recycling of mixed textiles](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78713-4) — nature.com, 2026-11-07

Tags: recycling, pet, textiles, depolymerization, polymers

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science