I figured it out! After appending the characters from XML::Parser to my string I now undef the expat character variable. Suddenly the whole script moves way faster and uses less memory. This is the new character data handling routine: 
Char => sub {
                my $expat = shift;
                my $chars = shift;
                $cbuffer = $cbuffer . $chars;
                undef $chars;
        }

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In reply to Re^6: Out of memory with XML::Parser by LukeyBoy
in thread Out of memory with XML::Parser by LukeyBoy

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