Abstract: A process for recycling polyester/cotton blends by reducing the polyester to a lower dialkyl ester of terephthalic acid and reducing the cotton to cellulose acetate. The novel process to recycle the polyester/cotton blends includes the steps of (a) providing a blend of polyester and cotton fibers; (b) subjecting the polyester/cotton blend to a first alcoholysis in a bath containing an alcohol and an effective catalyst at a suitable temperature until the polyester is depolymerized to a lower molecular weight polyester oligomer; (c) remove the cotton fibers from the alcoholic solution of oligomers and process the recovered cotton fibers by pulping and acetylyzing processes to recover the cellulose acetate; and (d) alcoholyze the low molecular weight polyester oligomers to produce the lower dialkyl ester of terephthalic acid.

Abstract: A wholly aromatic polyester is provided which has been found to be highly amenable to melt extrusion to yield high performance fibers. Such fibers following thermal treatment exhibit high tenacity and tensile modulus properties which are well retained at elevated temperatures while exhibiting a low degree of shrinkage. Unlike wholly aromatic polyesters normally encountered in the prior art, the polymer of the present invention is not intractable and may be melt extruded with ease at temperatures below approximately 300.degree. C., and preferably below approximately 280.degree. C. The aromatic polyester of the present invention consists essentially of recurring units (a) p-oxybenzoyl moiety, (b) 2,6-dicarboxynaphthalene moiety, (c) symmetrical dioxy aryl moiety (as defined), and (d) isophthaloyl moiety and/or metal-dioxy phenylene moiety, and is free of units which possess ring substitution.