WORMERVEER – A new textile sorting technology has been developed capable of processing 900kg of post-consumer material in just an hour.
The Near Infrared (NIR) system, developed by Belgian construction firm Valvan and Dutch firm Wieland Textiles over several years, categorises textiles based on fibre composition and colour.
A consortium of companies support the idea, from textile collectors and recyclers which have tested the real-world application of the solution, to impact organisation Circle Economy which has helped develop the solution.
“The long-term target with the project is to create a high-value destination for non-rewearable textiles,” Circle Economy told Ecotextile News. “More action is needed to create a market pull for the use of post-consumer textiles as feedstock for recyclers. Therefore, the project partners call for producers to start incorporating recycled content generated with sorted post-consumer textiles into their products.”
