Every year, 4.7 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles are thrown away across NWE simply because they have reached the end of their first use phase. This excess is an incredible opportunity to capture the inherent value of textiles, displace the use of virgin fibres upstream, and eliminate textile waste downstream. 

The Fibersort is a technology that automatically sorts large volumes of mixed post-consumer textiles by material composition. This allows them to be recycled into new, high quality textiles. Once sorted, these materials become reliable, consistent inputs for high-value textile-to-textile recyclers. High value recycling technologies can transition low value waste into new, high value textiles and they are a critical link in the circular supply chain. Therefore, the Fibersort is a key technology that will enable textile resources to cycle repeatedly through the supply chain. 

The Interreg NWE-funded Fibersort project brought together a consortium of six partners to optimise and realise the widespread implementation of the Fibersort technology. Circle Economy was the lead partner, alongside project partners Procotex Corporation S.A., Reshare Leger des Heils, Smart Fibersorting, Valvan Baling Systems, and Worn Again.

The project partners developed, optimised, and implemented the Fibersort technology at Smart Fibersorting's facility.

Through the project, 1,000 tonnes of post-consumer textiles were sorted for recycling. The project also improved the capacity of the Fibersort to handle ~900kg of textiles per hour.

Industry engagement

The project engaged with 378 textiles industry stakeholders. These recyclers, brands and retailers have now started to assess the potential use of the Fibersort outputs as feedstock for new products containing recycled content, with one brand—Loop.a.life—already using recycled Fibersorted textiles as input for their products.

Unlocking key insights for the textile industry

Between July 2019 and March 2020, the project also identified and guided these stakeholders through key barriers and opportunities to close the loop on textiles. These are available on the project’s website (http://fibersort.eu/), and were also shared through a public webinar, a recording of which can be found on the Circle Economy Youtube page (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5BHQ5f_DdY).

Policy recommendations

Between July 2019 and March 2020, the project developed policy recommendations for local, national and the European government to show which instruments they have at their disposal to accelerate the adoption of automated sorting technologies like the Fibersort, and provided them with guidance on the different barriers and opportunities that exist to close the loop on textiles. These policy recommendations were discussed with European Commission delegates, and are also available on the project’s website. Various government representatives also attended the public webinar that marked the end of the project, where these recommendations were also shared.

Raising awareness

The Fibersort technology garnered a lot of attention from both niche and mainstream media throughout the years, with over 56 press mentions that we are aware of. A selection of noteworthy media coverage can be found in the 'Relevant links' section below.