Design for Disassembly: engineering polymers to drive circularity in fashion

How can Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Thermodynamics come together to tackle one of the major bottlenecks hindering industrial-scale textile recycling? Dr. Acerina Trejo Machin, CTO at Resortecs, explains how the Belgian startup is reworking polymers to drive circularity in the fashion industry.

A presentation by Acerina Trejo Machin, Chief Technology Officer at Resortecs.

What drives you?
After years of working with Material Science and Polymer Chemistry in a range of industries and countries (Repsol – ES, Eurecat – ES, LIST – LU, Atos – KR), Dr. Acerina Trejo Machin found her true purpose in using her technical background to drive systematic change in one of the most polluting industries on the planet: fashion / textile.

Working with something meaningful and proving every day that technology can generate a positive impact is what takes her through the challenging startup day-to-day at Resortecs.

Her major drive is working with something meaningful, the power of technology for driving change, using existing resources and technologies to create something new, addressing a key problem, combining my academia pârcours with my own interest in fashion.

What emerging technologies / trends do you see as having the greatest potential in the short and long run? Her answer is “Working at a company like Resortecs this will sound biased, but I’m a firm believer that design for disassembly is one of the most relevant fields engineering has yet to pay attention to. We all talk about recycling, but we are still ignoring everything that should happen before to make it easy. True design-for-disassembly solutions in different industries (fashion, construction, furniture, automotive) are crucial to facilitating recycling in the short term so a truly circular economy is possible in the long run.”

About Acerina Trejo Machin
Chemical Engineer specializing in Polymers and Biopolymers. Currently working at Resortecs as Chief Technology Officer, engineering polymers to drive circularity in the textile industry.

Passionate about Material Science, Polymer Chemistry, Sustainability and Circularity. Previous work experiences include new materials development from lab to final application in a range of industries and countries (Repsol – ES, Eurecat – ES, LIST – LU, Atos – KR).

Speaks ES, EN and trying to master FR.Paolo has worked as an engineer and environmental consultant and as Technical Director for a waste management and remediation company. He is still a technical consultant for the Province of Bari where he sits on a panel evaluating and approving waste management projects.

About Resortecs
Resortecs leads the circular transition in fashion with heat-dissolvable stitching threads and thermal disassembly systems that make recycling easy. For more information visit the website.

Acerina Trejo Machin is speaker at the 2023 edition of the Circular Chemistry Conference which takes place at the Center Court of the Brightlands Chemelot Campus.

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