Dr Katie Major-Smith, a post-doctoral researcher involved in the project, added:

If the findings suggest there is sufficient support for a neoprene recycling facility, the team will develop an investment pack to share with funders to help build it.

Future Fibres Network Plus – which aims to bring environmental science into the heart of the UK fashion, clothing and textile sectors – is a network led by the University of Exeter, collaborating with the universities of Leeds, Huddersfield and Plymouth, University of the Arts London, and the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT).

Through its flexible fund, Future Fibres Network Plus is investing a total of £1 million in the eight projects.

Those projects include another initiative being led by the University, in partnership with Plan B Recycling Technologies Ltd, centred around the fibre-to-fibre recycling potential of polyester.

Recycled polyester pellets are often of low quality due to contamination by other materials, and the new project will develop a pre-recycling treatment process to improve recycled polyester quality.

It will address barriers to fibre recycling, examine the levels of microfibre release during laundry, and create a knowledge repository to optimise recycling processes.