Accelerating Circularity publishes findings
05/06/2024
The trials, launched in 2021, aimed to address gaps in circular textiles research by bringing together stakeholders to develop processes, relationships, business models and materials necessary for enabling the transition to a circular system.
Forty-three companies participated, including textile collection, sorting, fibre blending, yarn spinning, knitting, weaving, manufacturing, and retail.
Partners included Cone Denim and Kontoor.
ACP found the networks in the US were less well established. It took a more than a year to find a vendor that would supply a material that met a stringent specification. All US feedstocks were sorted by hand with assistance from handheld or tabletop NIR scanners.
Europe’s collecting and sorting infrastructure is more advanced than in the US, which allowed partners to test multiple feedstock qualities as well as to use a limited amount of automated sorting.
In the US, it found one supplier, a vertically-integrated recycler and mill, had no problems spinning the recycled fibres blend into yarn, but another yarn spinner was unable to spin them without additional processing.
The finished yarns were used to make jerseys, denims, and canvas, and they were incorporated into the supply networks of brand partners for final product manufacturing. Fabrics that passed the testing requirements set by the programme and brand partners were deemed as “repeatable”, attracting interest from both existing and new partners for expansion into commercial programs. ACP will now launch a series of new trials aimed at further commercialising the materials.
US retailer Target launched two trial products using the materials in March.
The full report can be downloaded from ACP’s website.
Image: Cotton t-shirts made from 26/1 yarn by Giotex from a combination of recycled post-consumer textiles, post-industrial textiles, and virgin cotton
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