In Europe, the amount of old clothing being disposed of is growing, while the existing export-dependent textile collection companies are reaching their limits. The development of local networks for textile-to-textile recycling has so far been slow, so the project initiated by the Dutch Boer Groep seems like a milestone.
The used textile company received financing support from the French organization Refashion, which is responsible for the system of extended producer responsibility (also known as Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR for short) in the neighboring country.
Textile-to-textile recycling in the EU
The post-consumer textiles recycled in the eight-month project were collected and sorted in France, according to a statement from the European industry initiative Rehubs. They then went to Frankenhuis, a subsidiary of the Boer Group – here the textiles were sorted by color and broken down into their individual fibers. For example, blue and white textiles were sorted to influence the final color of the yarn.
The prepared raw material was finally transported to Italy; The yarn manufacturer Spinaker processed the fibers from old textiles into yarn and the Stelly Sky weaving mill produced the fabric from them. This resulted in 50,000 items of clothing, each with a recycled content of 70 percent.
The project proves that Europe can transform its textile waste into new garments on a large scale, Rehubs said in a statement on Tuesday.
“By building a fully circular value chain here in Europe, we have shown that recycling textiles into textiles is not only possible, but also economically viable,” said Véronique Allaire, Head of Circular Economy at Refashion. “This is a strong signal that our industry can lead the shift towards a truly circular economy.”
Break the vicious circle
The discounter was also satisfied. The sweaters made in the project have sold well and demonstrate that customers value affordable, circular products, said Mariëlle van Dillen, senior buyer circular at Zeeman. “This project brings us closer to our goal of reusing textiles more often and reducing our impact as retailers.”
As an industry alliance, Rehubs brings together organizations along the textile value chain in Europe to break the previous vicious circle. Recycling companies have struggled to scale production without commitments from fashion brands. As a result, clothing companies again lacked price-competitive, recycled fibers.