In Europe an extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme for textile waste has been in operation since 2008. At the same time, participants identified the automated sorting of waste clothing as a ‘ missing link’ in the European textile recycling industry.
As the European Union plans to impose an EPR scheme for the mandatory collection of textile waste and the banning of its landfilling or incineration from January 2025, enormous quantities of material will have to be dealt with. Cécile Martin, Innovation and recycling manager of Paris-based Refashion – the non-profit association to administer the French EPR scheme – outlined his organisation’s objectives for the period 2023-2028 during a recent web talk, organized by the German VDMA.
Some interesting examples were presented, such as a fully automated sorting, fibre recycling production line that was installed in France in November 2023 in partnership with Andritz Laroche and Pellenc. This ‘Nouvelles Fibres Textiles’ system enables processes for consistently refining the textile waste, starting with a sorting line for full waste garments, a second for cutting and secondary sorting and then on to a cleaning and tearing line. The line then removes all other remaining impurities to result in a bale of 98-99% clean fibre. Similar processing is installed in a fast growing number of similar companies in The Netherlands, where meanwhile over 40 companies are operational.
