The specialist for recyclable services Texaid Textilverwertungs-AG, together with spinning machine manufacturer Rieter, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and partners from the public sector, retailers and brands, has completed the two-year textile recycling project “TexCircle”, taking textile-to-textile recycling a step forward .
The result is various product prototypes ranging from sweaters, socks and curtains to carpets, upholstery and accessories, developed with between 50 and 80 percent recycled fibers and yarns.
The aim was to pool knowledge to find out how systems can be created to produce high-quality products from recycled fibres. The design and research know-how of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Rieter’s spinning mill expertise and Texaid’s sorting and collection know-how were supported by Coop, Jacob Rohner AG and Ruckstuhl AG, as well as Workfashion.com, the Federal Office for civil service Zivi, which supports Nikin AG and Tiger Liz Textiles.
Upcycling, not downcycling
Through collaborative developments from design, collection, sorting, shredding and spinning to actual production trials and product testing, TexCircle managed to recycle 2.5 tons of pre- and post-consumer textile waste into product prototypes with promising commercial interest.
This did not happen without obstacles: “In the two years of our cooperation, we encountered several hurdles in the textile recycling value chain that we were able to overcome. This was proof that a circular system is possible and we now need to make this possible as an industry at scale.
“This project was an important step for us to get closer to the realization of new products from textile waste that is no longer consumed. We need innovations and collaborations like this to enable a circular textile industry. It was important for Texaid to learn to understand the hurdles involved in sorting, pre-processing and further processing, and we look forward to the first product prototypes with recycled content coming onto the market next year,” comments Martin Böschen, CEO of the Texaid Group , in a press release.
Prototype sweater
For the sweater, discarded jeans were cleaned of foreign matter and shredded into fibers in France. Rieter then spun these into a rotor yarn for use in knitwear. Some of them were mixed with new fibers from organic cotton in different proportions and tested.
“We tried to achieve as high a proportion of recycling as possible. Test yarns with a proportion of 70, 80 and 90 percent recycled fibers were produced from jeans,” according to the project description on the Texcircle website.
prototype socks
Two different raw materials were used for the socks: unworn shirts from civil service and unworn trousers from Coop bakeries; worn items of clothing should also be used in the future.
In a first step, all labels, buttons, zippers and cuffs were removed. Then the textiles were shredded in France and Italy. The shredded baker’s trousers were then spun into a ring yarn by Rieter and the civilian T-shirts by Marchi & Fildi into a rotor yarn.
prototype carpet
Old winter coats with a wool content of at least 70 percent that Texaid could no longer use were used for the carpet. They were first sorted by color and material. Then unwanted materials such as lining, glue, buttons and zippers had to be removed.
Together with textile waste from Tiger Liz Textiles, the remaining coat material was shredded into fibers in Italy. Marchi & Fildi then twisted them into a carpet yarn made from 30 percent wool from the old coats, 20 percent wool from old sweaters and 50 percent new, undyed New Zealand wool. Ruckstuhl processed it into a carpet that withstood a stress test.
prototype bag
For various types of bags, both used and unused Coop baker’s jackets were used and stripped of unwanted components. They were shredded into fibers in France, along with old black T-shirts collected by Texaid. These were processed into various nonwovens.
“The aim of this series of tests was to develop a fleece that has good values in terms of strength and abrasion, but also to investigate the possibilities of the artful use of recycled materials in the fleece,” explains the project description.
The resulting nonwovens were developed in an extended project group made up of Coop and Rossi Design Ltd. evaluated and processed into prototypes of accessory products. They consist of 75 percent shredded fibers and 25 percent bico-PET fibers, which are needed to strengthen the material.
Prototype insulating layer for a vest
The starting material for the insulating fleece of the garment was duvets and pillows with polyester wadding collected by Texaid. In a first step, the collected material had to be carefully separated from the outer shells. The project group tested various cleaning methods and opted for ozone technology.
The cleaned polyester flakes and the fleece were then pulled apart by Jakob Härdi AG. The loosened fibers were mixed with fiber leftovers from production and Biko fibers and processed into a fleece.
The resulting fleece consists of 100 percent PET. The blend consists of 49 percent recycled fibers (from bedding), 30 percent rPET from industrial waste and 21 percent PET bico binder fibers. The fleece is 20 millimeters thick and has a grammage of 200 g/sqm. It was used as an insulating layer in a vest supplied by workfaschion.com.