Can you transform old clothes into fuel?

At the end of Back to the Future , Emmett "Doc" mad scientist Brown went back to the present time with the time machine - the DeLorean car uses waste as energy, thanks to a salvaged reactor. Recycled materials from the future, named Mr Fusion. A company in Japan is also trying to reproduce the real version of this reactor. And they also use the image of the DeLorean "legendary" car to promote it.

Jeplan said that 1 ton of discarded clothing could produce 700 liters of ethanol, saving the area of ​​land to serve cultivation and agriculture.

Recycler Jeplan is working to produce a gasoline that uses cotton yarn from clothes . Jeplan said that 1 ton of discarded clothing could produce 700 liters of ethanol, saving the area of ​​land to serve cultivation and agriculture. The company also said it was learning how to recycle polyester fabric . This chemical is mixed into fabric to reduce cost, improve durability and make clothes not wrinkled. It is used in 60% of the total consumption of clothing worldwide, according to Jeplan, and can become a valuable supply when removed and reused into new clothes.

Recycling of plastic, paper and metal is now very popular, but most of the clothes left around the world are left in the landfill or burned."Only 10% of these clothes are reused, and that includes" secondhand "sales," said Masaki Takao, co-founder and CEO of the company based in Tokyo, Jeplan. "This is true for all countries."

Ethanol produced from discarded clothing.

Takao and his team are testing a technique to "extract" polyester fibers from clothing by applying the distillation and evaporation cycles several times. This process only generates half of the carbon dioxide emitted when making clothes. However, arduous and challenging is that they have to get high-purity polyester, and Mr. Takeo said: "No one dares to do this, because it is so difficult."

Takao left the graduate school to create Japlan in 2007 with Michihiko Iwamoto, a salesman for the textile company. Japlan cooperated with Osaka University to develop cotton recycling technology. They started their product promotion campaign in 2013 and attracted the attention of Mitsubishi and NTT Docomo. Japlan has earned 13 million USD since its establishment and considers Docomo and Jafco professional investment company to be their biggest shareholders.

Clothes are put in a machine to perform the distillation and evaporation process.

In the movie Back to the Future , the character Doc Brown - played by actor Christopher Lloyd - threw a banana peel and beer cans into a big, coffee-like reactor. Fusion. However, Japlan's process requires a factory to implement. The company is building a production facility in southern Kyushu, which is expected to be operational by the end of this summer and can handle up to 2,000 tons of clothing each year. Polyester fabric is currently being stockpiled until the factory is officially opened.

To promote Jeplan's recycling efforts, Takao ordered an original DeLorean as in the movie. He had to submit a petition to Universal Pictures before the studio sold it to Takao and allowed him to use it for advertising purposes. He did not disclose how much he paid for it, but transporting it from the US to Japan ran out of 5 million yen, equivalent to $ 44,000.

A container of fermented glucose, part of the process of turning cotton into fuel.

The DeLorean will be used to move to shops, commercial centers, shopping centers across Japan to introduce the finished product of Jeplan. In order to compete with traditional clothing production, the company needs 30,000 tons of polyester per year. Takao hopes that the car will attract everyone's attention, and after learning about Jeplan's recycling process, they will donate clothes.

The company has put used clothes boxes at more than 2,100 locations across Japan, including in shopping malls, and started working with Ryohin Keikaky, the head of Muji retail chain, and The company owns 7-Eleven Seven & I Holdings convenience store chain. Takao also plans to "acquire" many other clothing manufacturers and plans to sell recycled materials to other big players in the garment industry.

Japlan is currently negotiating with a wide range of sportswear and football teams around the globe with similar suggestions. Takao sees great potential in the king sports fan community; Not only that, soccer uniforms have a very high polyester component, perfectly suited for recycling."It's hard to get consumers interested in the earth, but they will participate in these activities if it's really interesting , " he said. "By doing big events, we hope to change people's perspective on recycling."