Industrial Textile Sorting: One key for Efficient Textile Recycling at scale
Rewin collaborates closely with a consortium of key partners, one of them being NewRetex. With its unique experience in Textile sorting, NewRetex serves as a cornerstone in the development of circular textile management. Currently operating a sorting facility in Denmark, NewRetex will become increasingly important as the circular textile value chain evolves.
Textiles surround us almost all the time, from our homes, offices, hospitals, cars, and the production industry including our clothes. This generates a significant amount of discarded textiles and textile waste. Unfortunately, this material is not currently being handled, as previously discussed [link], resulting in significant resource wastage.
For Rewin, it's crucial to collaborate with partners like the Danish company NewRetex, which has made significant progress in making post-consumer textile sorting a reality through the development of automated textile sorting.
Partnering for Circular Textile Management
From January 1, 2025, the EU will mandate member countries to collect post-consumer textiles. While some countries, like Denmark, have initiated processes to sort collected textiles for reuse or recycling, the capacity is far from sufficient. In many countries, including Sweden, the process of initiating an industry for sorting hasn’t yet commenced on a larger scale. At Swedish Wargön Innovation, another important partnership for Rewin, the technical aspects of textile sorting are being developed, enabling scalability into a full-fledged industry.
Currently, post-consumer textile sorting is predominantly carried out manually at various locations across Europe, with an annual sorting capacity ranging from 300 to 400,000 tons. This capacity is anticipated to grow substantially. The EU has set a definitive objective of comprehensive collection for all discarded textiles. Considering the significant population of over 448 million inhabitants, each disposing of an average of 11-15 kg of textiles annually, the volume of textiles for processing will be substantial. However, this situation presents a unique opportunity. The collected textiles serve as a valuable raw material, offering the potential to contribute to the development of circular solutions. These solutions can play a vital role in shaping a future where the textile industry stands as a paragon of sustainability.
— The establishment of a post-consumer textile sorting industry is crucial for achieving textile circularity. With efficient collection, sorting, and evaluation of textiles, there are even greater opportunities for a second chance for these materials, be it through reuse or recycling, says Henrik Wene co-founder and business developer at Rewin.
Challenges in Textile Sorting
In the town of Bjerringsbro in Jutland, Denmark, NewRetex operates a facility that receives all forms of textile waste, sorting it based on color and material. This sorting process is crucial for promoting the use of textiles within the circular textile industry. NewRetex utilizes technology, including sensors, robotics, and artificial intelligence, to efficiently sort textiles for both recycling and reuse purposes.
— Our vision is for clothes to become clothes again without negatively impacting the environment. We strive to ensure that as much textile material as possible enters a circular loop, and we collaborate with companies that share our commitment to integrating recycled textiles into their production processes, explains Rikke Bech, CEO at NewRetex.
Today, less than one percent of all textile waste is recycled into new textile materials. Finding partners like Rewin, who can utilize textiles and integrate them into the circular value chain, is crucial for NewRetex.
— You can’t achieve circularity alone. Partnerships are incredibly important, and collaborating with Rewin is essential for the development and the possibility to make use of all the textiles collected and sorted, says Rikke Bech.
Efficient access to Textile Material
Rewin is on track to build a pilot facility. However, a challenge remains; to access sufficiently large post-consumer textile volumes for the later full-scale operations. Despite substantial demand for recycled polyester and numerous potential collaborations with producers that use polyester, the access to material remains ineffective.
— EU member states must accelerate their efforts. Simply collecting textiles is not sufficient to achieve positive environmental and climate impacts; we must also manage textiles through both reuse and recycling, and for that, we need effective sorting systems at scale. While, as individual recyclers, we can identify materials, establishing a robust and sustainable system for textile sorting is essential, even for us, says Henrik Wene.