Sustainability platform Fashion for Good is launching a new project, FAE (Feedstock Activation Europe), to address the missing link in textile recycling: the infrastructure for sorting and pre-treatment. The organization announced this in a press release on Thursday.
The initiative is supported by major players such as Adidas, Bestseller and Inditex. It is intended to ensure that post-consumer textiles, i.e. used textiles, can be used on a large scale as raw material for new textile fibers. Partners from the Benelux countries are also taking part in the project, including the sorters Boer Group and Sympany as well as the technology innovator Cure Technology.
FAE is a response to the economic gap between sorters and recyclers. Currently, the majority of collected textiles that are not suitable for the second-hand market are burned or landfilled. The problem is not the technology. According to Fashion for Good, there are enough mechanical and chemical recycling companies, but the upstream step.
There is a lack of cost-effective methods to remove zippers, buttons and synthetic fibers from clothing and to separate the synthetic fibers. This is a necessary step for high-quality sustainability in the textile chain.
The FAE project focuses on testing fiber separation techniques and designing regional ‘hubs’. These sorting and pre-treatment centers in Europe are intended to reduce processing costs per product through automation. The organization wants to create an economically viable model. This model responds to EU Extended Producer Responsibility (UPV) legislation, which makes fashion brands financially responsible for the phase where clothing becomes waste.
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