No longer worn, doesn’t fit, has a hole: every year, millions of tons of textiles end up in landfill sites. Much of this unbelievable volume of raw materials remains unused because in order to recycle textiles, they must first be sorted according to their composition. Complex and mixed fibres make this process especially challenging. With this in mind, the Fibersort Consortium – a collaboration of organisations and businesses in textile collection, sorting, recycling and machine development – has developed a cutting-edge technology. Using Near Infrared Technology (NIT) and algorithms, the new Fibersort machine can recognise the colour and composition of up to 900 kg textiles per hour and sort the textiles accordingly. With this new technology, the Fibersort Consortium accelerates the implementation of a circular economy.
“Automated sorting technologies could enable the industry to turn non-rewearable textiles that currently have no other destination than downcycling, landfill or incineration into valuable feedstock for textile-to-textile recycling,” clarifies the Fibersort Consortium. But in order to sustainably and successfully implement such technologies, questions regarding financial and technological feasibility and scaling potentials must also be answered. According to the Fibersort Consortium, collectors, sorters, recyclers, manufacturers, brands and policymakers have both opportunities and responsibilities to address these challenges.
The project partners of the new Fibersort technology, under the direction of the Dutch-based organisation Circle Economy, include Valvan Baling Systems, ReShare, Procotex, Worn Again Technologies and Smart Fibersorting.
#Innovation #Technology #Fibres #Circular economy #Recycling #Sustainability #Circular Economy #Circle Economy #Fibersort #Fibersort Consortium
Find more information here:
- Circle Economy (2020): „The Fibersort machine is ready to start valorizing global textile waste“
- Circle Economy: https://www.circle-economy.com/