73% of the textile waste is burned or dumped - Circular Economy in the Textile Sector - Wanderful.stream

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73% of
the textile
waste is
burned
or dumped
Circular Economy in
the Textile Sector
Introduction

                                                                                     This publication is part of a European Interreg project.
                                                                                        Under the name Wanderful.stream (2020- 2023)
                                                                                     eight organisations in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion are
                                                                                     pooling their knowledge, strengths and resources to help
                                                                                     small and medium-sized enterprises in the transition to
                                                                                     a more circular economy. Wanderful.stream offers free
                                                                                     guidance and support to the companies on how to valorize
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                                                                                     waste and residual flows and initiates and facilitates
                                                                                     the co-creation of circular prototypes, together with
                                                                                     technologists, designers and business developers.

                                                                                     With this publication we want to provide an overview of
                                                                                     the current situation (problems, needs and opportunities)
                                                                                     in the textile sector with regard to the circular economy.
                                                                                     This is part of a series of thematic publications on the
                                                                                     different SME waste streams in the Meuse-Rhine region.
                                                                                     It also forms the basis for further workshops and master
                                                                                     classes on the theme of textiles within the project, which
                                                                                     will be offered to the SMEs.

                                                                                     Using current examples of textile related circular economy
                                                                                     from the EMR region, we would like to highlight some
                                                                                     possible solutions and opportunities within the sector.
                                                                                     The intention is not to be all-embracing but to be a source
                                                                                     of inspiration for all SMEs, designers, technologists and
                     URL Links                                                       users with a heart for textiles.
                   This publication contains links to external websites.
                   You can click on the icon to go to the relevant website.

                                                             2                                          3
Table of Content

                   1 Fast Fashion                                                 6    6	New Earning Models 34-35
                                                                                          6.1 Rent Out

                   2 Influence on Environment 8
                    	
                                                                                          6.2 Re-Sale

                     & Society                                                         7 Textile Design                                            36
                   3 Towards a Circular
                    	                                                            14   8 Recycling                                         38-53
                     Textile Economy
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                                                                                          8.1 Textile Collection
                                                                                          8.2 Textile Sorting

                   4 Fibers                                            16-25              8.3 Recycling Techniques
                                                                                       		8.3.1 Recycling of fabrics
                     4.1 Recycled Fibers                                               		8.3.2 Mechanical fibre recycling
                     4.2 Natural Cellulose Based Fibers                                		8.3.3 Polymer recycling
                     4.3 Synthetic Cellulose Fibers (Manmade Cellulosic Fibers)        		8.3.4 Chemical monomer recylcing
                     4.4 Bio Synthetic Fibers                                             8.4	Textile Manufacturers Based on Recycled Materials
                     4.5 Protein Fibers
                     4.6 New Sources for Natural Textile Fibers
                                                                                       9 Conclusions                                               54
                   5 Production Process 26-33                                          References/ Weblinks/ Companies                             57-74
                     5.1 Chemicals
                     5.2 Processes with Less Energy or Water Consumption
                     5.3 Processes with Less Textile Waste
                     5.4 Reduction Plastic Microfiber
1                                                                                           ‘Fast Fashion’ phenomenon
                                                                                                               Figure 1 Growth in clothing sales and decline in clothing use since 2000.

                   Fast Fashion                                                                                1 Average number of times a garment is worn before it is no longer used.
                                                                                                               Source Euromonitor International Apparel & Footwear 2016 edition; World Bank,
                                                                                                               World development indicators – GD (2017)

                   Nowadays the textile industry                     clothing production doubled between                                                                                  >100 BN
                                                                                                                                                                                           UNITS
                   works mainly in a linear way. Non-                2000 and 2014. Due to the growing         200
                   renewable resources are used to                   world population and middle class,
                                                                                                               190
                   produce garments that are often                   this trend is likely to continue. ( 1 )                                                                                   (2015)
                   worn for only a short period of time
                                                                                                               180
                   after which they are usually taken to
                   a landfill or incinerated.( 1 ) Over the
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                                                                                                               170

                                                                      People buy
                   last two decades, both annual textile
                   production and consumption have                                                             160

                   doubled (from 7 to 13 kg per person). (4)

                                                                      40% more
                                                                                                               150
                   This increase is mainly
                   due to the 'fast fashion' business                                                          140           >50 BN
                   model that emerged in the 1980s.
                   Clothing companies reduced their                  clothes than                              130            UNITS
                   costs, causing consumer prices                                                                              (2000)
                                                                                                               120
                   to drop drastically, and increased
                   the number of collections per year                   before                                  110
                   (2 collections per year in 2000 to
                   about 5 per year in 2011). In response                                                      100
                   to these lower prices and greater                                                                  2000                          2005                           2010                 2015
                   variation in clothing, consumers
                   started buying more items. The                                                                      Index 100 in 2000                               Number of times an item is worn
                   annual volume of clothes purchased                                                                     World GDP                                      Clothing Utilisation
                   increased by 40% between 1996 and                                                                      Clothing Sales
                   2018. 60% of German citizens indicate
                   that they own more clothes than they
                   need. ( 2 ) Figure 1 shows that as a result
                   of this 'fast fashion' phenomenon,

                                                                 6                                                                                                7
2
                   Influence on Environment
                   & Society

                                                                                                                              73% of the textile
                   A natural consequence of the current
                   linear model and consumption pattern
                                                                   (4)Each year, the washing of synthetic
                                                                   textile products leads to the release
                                                                                                                               waste is burned
                                                                                                                                 or dumped
                   in the textile sector, is an increased          billions of microplastic fibers that
                   waste production and environmental              eventually end up in the oceans and
                   impact. The textile industry is one of          our food chain.
                   the largest, but also one of the most
                   polluting sectors in the world.(2)              Finally, the 'Fast Fashion' phenomenon
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                                                                   saddles us with a mountain of solid
                   The textile industry processes 98               textile waste. This includes not only
                   million tons of non-renewable                   textile waste from consumers, but
                   resources annually, including oil for           also textile waste produced in industry
                   the production of synthetic fibers,             (~12%) such as factory waste, clothing     waste is incinerated or landfilled,              and reducing the quantities that are
                   fertilizers for cotton production               that is not sold, and so on. Figure 2      leading to a large loss of net energy            incinerated or landfilled on the other.
                   and chemicals for textile treatment.            shows textile waste per inhabitant and     and material.( 1 ) Incineration also leads       (2)

                   Furthermore, textile production,                per EU country in 2012. The EU average     to greenhouse gas emissions. When
                   including cotton cultivation, consumes          is 6 kg of textile waste per inhabitant.   dumped, potentially toxic chemicals              Finally, the traditional textile industry
                   about 93 billion cubic meters of                                                           such as certain dyes from clothing can           often has a negative impact on the
                   water per year, contributing to an              Only 13% of today's global textile waste   leak into the environment. In addition,          environment as well as a negative
                   increasing water shortage in some               is recycled in one way or another          almost no textile item is currently              social impact. Many textile workers
                   regions. Greenhouse gas emissions               (Figure 3). Moreover, most of it is        fully biodegradable. Cellulose-based             work in an unsafe environment and
                   from the textile sector amount to 1.2           recycled into lower value applications     materials such as cotton are, but                are exposed to toxic chemicals. They
                   billion tons per year, which is more            in other industries such as insulation     usually cotton garments contain parts            are often poorly paid, work long hours
                   than all international air and maritime         materials, dusters, mattress filling,      such as buttons or stitching in another          and child labor still occurs.
                   traffic combined.( 1 ) For example, the         etc. (Figure 3). Less than 1% of           material that is not biodegradable.
                   production of one pair of jeans results         clothing textiles are recycled into
                   in a consumption of about 7000                  new clothing, which represents an          In a circular textile economy it is
                   liters of water and a CO²-emission              annual economic loss of 87 billion         therefore important to minimize the
                   equivalent to a car journey of 110 km.(3)       euros.(5) The remaining 73% of textile     amount of waste on the one hand,

                                                               8                                                                                           9
Textile Waste in EU
                                                               0                   5               10        15        20    25   30   35

                                                   Cyprus                                                                              32
                                          United Kingdom                                                                19
                                                  Belgium                                                         16
                                             Luxembourg                                                 11

                     A well-developed              France
                                                      Italy
                                                                                               7
                                                                                               7

                    recycling process
                                             Netherlands                                       7
                                         EU(28 countries)                                  6
                                          Czech Republic                                   6

                    ensures that more           Portgugal
                                                   Austria                             5
                                                                                           6

                   waste can be reused
                                                Germany                            4
                                                   Ireland                         4
                                                Lithuania                      3
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                    for the production           Slovenia
                                                   Finland
                                                                               3
                                                                               3

                      of new textiles
                                                     Spain                 2
                                                 Hungaria                  2
                                                   Poland                  2

                             =                    Slovakia
                                                  Bulgaria             1
                                                                           2

                        closed-loop
                                                 Esthonia              1
                                                   Croatia             1
                                                 Romania               1

                         recycling                Sweden
                                                  Norway
                                                                       1
                                                                       1
                                                Denmark            0
                                                   Greece          0
                                                    Latvia         0
                                                     Malta         0

                                         Figuur 2 Textile waste (all NACE-activities + households) in
                                         EU countries in 2012, kg/per capita
                                         Bron Based on Eurostat data

                            10                                                                          11
Worldwide                                                                    Figure 3 Global material flows for clothing in 2015.
                                                                                                Source Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2017a
                   Material Flows

                   97%                                      53           Million
                                                                         Tonnes                     Use                                           73%

                   Virgin Feedstock                         Annual Fibre Production                                                               Landfilled or
                   63% Plastic                              for Clothing                                                                          Incinerated
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                   26% Cotton
                   11% Other

                   2%
3
                                                Towards a Circular
                                                Textile Economy

                   The linear business model
                      in the textile industry   The above shows that the linear
                                                business model in the textile industry
                                                                                                It also introduces earning models that
                                                                                                counteract the current overproduction

                    leads to overproduction,
                                                leads to overproduction, depletion              and consumption. Furthermore, a well-
                                                of natural resources, pressure on               developed recycling process ensures
                                                ecosystems due to pollution, a                  that more waste is reused for the

                       depletion of natural     negative social impact and an ever-
                                                increasing amount of waste. Also,
                                                                                                production of new textiles (closed-
                                                                                                loop recycling).
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                       resources, pressure
                                                economic opportunities remain
                                                underused as only a small percentage            In order to get an overview of the
                                                of textile waste is recycled. A circular        current possibilities, a literature study

                       on ecosystems due        textile economy produces from non-
                                                polluting, biodegradable materials
                                                                                                was carried out on companies active
                                                                                                in the circular textile economy with
                                                and uses energy and water-efficient             a focus on the Euregion Meuse-Rhine.

                     to pollution, a negative   production processes that are less
                                                harmful to the environment.

                        social impact and
                        an ever-increasing
                         amount of waste.

                               14                                                          15
4
                   Fibers

                   Polyester and other synthetic                   Cotton is a biodegradable fiber.             MADE-BY Environmental Benchmark for Fibres
                   fibers such as acrylic and nylon                However, chemicals used in e.g.
                   currently make up 63% of the total              coloring processes can potentially           Class A                     Class B                     Class C
                   textile fibers used. Their production           affect soil and water once released.( 2 )
                   requires large amounts of fossil fuels,                                                      • Recycled Cotton           • Organic Cotton            • Conventional Hemp
                   consumes significant amounts of                 In 2013, the European non-profit             • Mechanically             •C
                                                                                                                                              hemically Recyled        •C
                                                                                                                                                                          onventional Flax
                   energy and emits large amounts                  organization Made-By developed
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                                                                                                                   Recycled Nylon            Nylon                       (Linen)
                   of greenhouse gases. Some of the                a classification for textile fibers
                                                                                                                • Mechanically             •C
                                                                                                                                              hemically Recycled       • Ramie
                   chemicals used in their production              based on the environmental impact               Recycled Polyester        Polyester
                   also end up in wastewater. When                 taking into account 6 parameters:                                                                    • PLA
                                                                                                                • Recycled Wool             • Lyocell (TENCEL)
                   washed, these synthetics also emit              greenhouse gas emissions, toxicity to
                   microplastics, which accumulate                 humans, toxicity to the environment,         • Organic Hamp
                   in the oceans and our food chain.               energy, water and land consumption.          • Organic Flax (Linen)
                   Moreover, these synthetic fibers are            On this basis, fibers are classified as
                   non-biodegradable. The ecological               A (least environmental impact) to E.         Class D                     Class E                     Unclassed
                   footprint of cotton, which accounts for         Some fibres could not be categorized
                   33% of total textile production, is also        due to insufficient available data.
                                                                                                                • Virgin Polyester          • Conventional Cotton       • Silk
                   significant. It’s cultivation consumes          However, this classification only takes
                   10% of the total global pesticides,             into account the first life stages of        • Poly-Acrylic              • Virgin Nylon              • Organic Wood
                   25% of insecticides and 2.5% of the             the substance. The spinning process,         • Generic Modal®           • Rayon                     • Leather
                   global water consumption. This causes           fabrication of the substance including          (Viscose Product)
                                                                                                                                            • Cuprammonium             • Elastane (Spandex)
                   water shortages in many areas, both             dyeing and end of life were not taken                                       Rayon
                                                                                                                                                                        • Acetate
                   for the local population and for nature.        into account (Table 1).
                                                                                                                                            • Bamboo Viscose
                   Toxic pesticides and insecticides are                                                                                                                • Kapok
                   harmful to the workers who work with                                                                                     • Wool
                   them, but also to the environment.
                                                                                                               Table 1 Classification of textile fibers according to environmental impact.
                                                                                                               Source Made-By, (2013)

                                                              16                                                                                        17
4.1                                                                                    producing plants are less prone to             Procotex (Dottignies, Belgium). They
                   Recycled Fibers                                                                        diseases, so their cultivation requires        also offer a wide range of other natural
                                                                                                          less pesticides. Moreover, they                and recycled fibres. In Amsterdam, the
                   Recycled fibers have a lower                                                           consume less water and food and                Netherlands, Pina Studio produces
                   environmental impact than their                                                        often grow faster. The most common             jumpsuits exclusively made of organic
                   corresponding new materials since no                                                   fiber-producing plants are described           linen and cotton. The flax is produced
                   new input of materials is needed and         part of it. C&A is the world's largest    here.                                          in France, Italy and Belgium and is
                   energy consumption is much lower.            retailer of organic cotton. JBC                                                          then woven and dyed in Germany,
                   Mechanical recycling techniques are          (Houthalen-Helchteren, Belgium) has       Hemp grows twice as fast as cotton             without the use of harmful chemicals.
                   less environmentally damaging than           a baby collection of organic cotton.      and in many types of climates, purifies        Also Noumenon from Amsterdam,
                   chemical methods. The recycling of           Other Belgian companies that have         the groundwater and requires less              Ink (Brussels), Lanius (Cologne) and
                   fibers is further discussed in more          organic cotton in their range include     pesticides during cultivation. Since           Living Crafts (Selbitz) from Germany,
                   detail (see 8.3.2).                          Sambalou (Brussels, Belgium), Up-Rise     the fibers are quite stiff, they are           produce clothing with linen fibers.
                                                                (Leuven, Belgium) and Ink (Brussels).     sometimes mixed with cotton to
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                                                                In the Netherlands, there are several     obtain a smoother fabric. Organically          Kapok is a cellulose fiber found in the
                   4.2                                          brands that use organic cotton in their   grown hemp does not use artificial             fruit of the kapok tree (Timell, 1957).
                   Natural Cellulose-                           clothing, often combined with other       fertilizer, but these fibers are 40%           The kapok fiber is 100% biodegradable
                   Based Fibers                                 organic or recycled materials. For        more expensive than conventional               and 100% recyclable. The growth of
                                                                example, Kuyichi, Pina Studio, A-dam,     hemp.         Stexfibers (Arnhem,              kapok requires no pesticides (Ruby,
                   Organic cotton is grown using organic        Unrobe, Unrecorded and Noumenon           the Netherlands) produces hemp                 2014). However, because the kapok
                   pesticides and without the use of            distinguish themselves from other         fibres to replace cotton fibres. The           fiber is a rather short fiber, it must
                   artificial fertilizer. The unsprayed         brands in Amsterdam with their more       clothing producers Ink (Brussels)              always be mixed with other fibers
                   cotton plants are picked manually            sustainable clothing. In Zwolle J-lab3l   and Up-Rise (Leuven) in Belgium use            in order to be spun into yarn. The
                   and there is no chemical post-               is located and in Laren Mud Jeans also    hemp in their clothing, as do Lanius           harvesting of kapok is also very labour
                   treatment (Figure 4). However, the           sells clothes made of organic cotton.     (Cologne), Bleed (Helmbrechts) and             intensive because the fiber-rich
                   high water consumption remains a             Also in Germany there are numerous        HempTailor (Amsterdam).                        pods have to be beaten down high
                   problem with organic cotton and              brands that design sustainable                                                           up in the tree and are also irritating
                   has resulted in these fibers being           clothing by using organic cotton and      Linen comes from the flax plant. Unlike        to the lungs because of the seeds
                   placed in a lower category by Made-          other natural materials: Armedangels      cotton, flax cultivation requires no           that spread through the wind. (Kapok
                   By. Organic cotton is recognizable by        and Lanius in Cologne, Living Crafts      fertilizer and little or no pesticides.        - lightweight and water-resistant
                   means of an OCS (Organic Content             in Selbitz, Mandala in Munich and the     With organic linen, no chemicals are           textile, 2018). Flocus in Enschede,
                   Standard) or GOTS (Global Organic            German brand Bleed in Helmbrechts.        used for the growth of flax neither            the Netherlands, produces textile
                   Textile Standard) certificate. A lot                                                   the processing of linen fibers.                fibers and fabrics from kapok. J-Lab3l
                   of companies already use organic             However, there is still a wide range of   Examples of producers of flax fibres           (Zwolle, the Netherlands) uses the
                   cotton for their collection or for a         alternatives to cotton. These fiber-      are Derotex (Wielsbeke, Belgium) and           kapok fibers from Flocus in their

                                                           18                                                                                       19
Cotton Cycle

                                                   Cotton                                             clothing. Bleed (Helmbrechts) also               all bamboo clothing on the market is
                                                                                                      uses kapok fibers in their clothing.             made from bamboo viscose. BAMBOO
                                                                                                                                                       BELGIUM (Hechtel-Eksel, Belgium),
                                                                                                      Ramee fibers originate from the                  Nooboo (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
                                                                                                      'Boehmeria' plant, which grows best              and Gesine Jost (Düsseldorf,
                                                                                                      in a (sub)tropical climate. The plant            Germany) make garments from
                                                                                                      requires no pesticides, uses little water        bamboo viscose.
                                                                                                      and can be harvested up to 6 times a
                                                                                                      year under good conditions. The plant
                                                                                                      is therefore renewable, biodegradable            4.3
                                                                                                      and above that the fibers are naturally          Synthetic Cellulose Fibers
                         Conventional                                          Organic                white so they should not be bleached.            (Manmade Cellulose Fibers)
                                                                                                      Unfortunately, most productionplants
                     Cultivation with pesticides                       Mixed Cultivation without
                                                                                                      use a chemical process to clean the              Synthetic cellulose fibers (Manmade
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                           in monoculture                               agricultural toxins, such
                                                                                                      fibers.                                          cellulosic fiber, MMC) are produced
                                                                             as pesticides
                                                                                                                                                       from wood and are therefore
                                                                                                      Bamboo grows fast, can be harvested              biodegradable. During an energetically
                     Bleaching, spinning, dyeing                                                      indefinitely and needs little water.             intensive production process, the
                          with chemicals                                 Bleaching, spinning,         There are 2 methods to produce                   wood pulp is dissolved in chemicals
                                                                       dyeing in environmentally      bamboo fibers: the chemical and the              after which the fibers are spun into
                                                                            friendly manner           mechanical method. The chemical                  yarn. The "preferred MMC" label was
                     Strong cleaning necessary                                                        method uses strong chemicals to                  created to identify MMCs that use
                       because of chemicals                                                           release the cellulose fibers from the            renewable, certified wood and have
                                                                          No cleaning required        bamboo. This leads to the production             a sustainable production process.
                                                                                                      of bamboo viscose (see also 4.3).                Viscose, also known as rayon, is the
                           No control of                                                              The mechanical method is a lot more              most common MMC. Other synthetic
                         working conditions                         Controlled socially responsible   durable. The 'woody' part of the                 cellulose fibers are Modal, Cupro and
                                                                         working conditions           bamboo plant is crushed and treated              Lyocell. Modal fibers undergo a slightly
                                                                                                      with natural enzymes. The obtained               different post-treatment than viscose,
                        Waste water regularly                                                         natural bamboo fibers are very rough             making them more wear-resistant.
                         ends up in nature                                   Waste water to           like linen and more expensive than               Cupro is made by treating (recycled)
                                                                            treatment plant           bamboo viscose. (Ali & Sarwar, 2010).            cotton cellulose with cuprammonium
                                                                                                      This method of production only                   salt. Lyocell (TencelTM), produced by
                   Figure. 4 Cycle of conventional versus organically grown cotton.                   occurs on a small scale as it is a labor-        the Austrian manufacturer Lenzing
                   Source Waschbär                                                                    intensive and costly process. Almost             (Lenzing), is the most sustainable

                                                          20                                                                                      21
Figure 5 Chair made of seaweed yarn,
               naturally dyed with seaweed
               Source Studio Nienke Hoogvliet

                                                                  Also from seaweed can cellulose         4.4                                             U.S.A.) and bioPET (Polyethylene
                                                                  be won. With this cellulose fabrics     Bio Synthetic Fibers                            Terephtalate) from Toray (Tokyo,
                                                                  can be made such as viscose and                                                         Japan).
                                                                  modal. Smartfiber (Rudolstadt,          Biosynthetic fibers consist of
                                                                  Germany) makes Seacell, seaweed         polymers made from renewable,                   Bio-based poly-amide (bioPA)
                                                                  fibers. Dried seaweed is crushed,       biological sources such as agricultural         (bio-based nylon) is a biopolymer
                                                                  finely grounded and embedded in a       crops, e.g. corn and reed or even               made from castor oil (100% renewable
                                                                  lyocell cellulose wood fiber. Palgero   better, waste products. The shift from          source) but is not biodegradable. The
                                                                     (Vlotho, Germany) sells clothing     synthetic fibers made from fossil               main manufacturer of this polymer
                                                                  from Seacell. Tjeerd Veenhoven          fuels to bio-based fibers is only in its        is the French company Arkema
                                                                  (Groningen, Netherlands) is working     infancy. PLA (Polylactic Acid) fibers           (Rilsan). Mandala (Munich, Germany)
                                                                  on a research called ALGAEFABRICS,      are considered a fully biobased and                makes yoga clothing out of this
                                                                  textile production from Cladophora,     biodegradable alternative to polyester.         material.
                   MMC as the production process uses             a seaweed species that exists out of    PLA is produced from fermentable
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                   a less toxic solvent in a closed-loop          70% cellulose. Also in Studio Nienke    sugars, currently mainly from corn.             The Aachen-Maastricht Institute
                   system where the chemicals are                 Hoogvliet researched is being done      Alternative sugar sources such as               for Biobased Materials (AMIBM),
                   reused (Viscose fibres production              to the production of textile from       waste streams are being investigated.           MODINT (Zeist, the Netherlands)
                   - An assessment of sustainability              seaweed (Figure 5).                     Sugar is fermented to lactic acid,              and CHILL work together on the
                   issues, 2017). In Germany Living Crafts                                                which after further conversion can              project 'BioTex Fieldlab' with the
                   (Selbitz), Lanius (Cologne), Mandala                                                   be polymerized to PLA. Finally, these           aim to produce bio-based fibers.
                   (Munich) and Bleed (Helmbrechts)                                                       PLA pellets are converted into textiles.        The partners in the BioTex Fieldlab
                   produce garments made out of lyocell                                                   The production process costs half                     work closely together with
                   fibers. Noumenon from Amsterdam                                                        of the energy needed to produce                 two Amsterdam-based industrial
                   uses lyocell in her clothing collection                                                cotton. Nature Works LLC (Minnetonka,           producers of biopolymers, Avantium
                   but also Cupro. Ink (Brussels) also                                                    U.S.A.), one of the larger suppliers            and Corbion. Besides the biopolymers
                   designs clothing made out of lyocell.                                                  of biopolymers, sells PLA under the             polyethylene furanoate from
                   Wijld (Wuppertal) makes T-shirts out                                                   brand name Ingeo. In Belgium, Galactic          Avantium (Amsterdam) and PLA from
                   of lyocell and J-lab3l makes clothes                                                   (Celles) produces PLA from a variety            Corbion, BioTex also focuses on other
                   out of FSC viscose.                                                                    of food crops.                                  biopolymers, such as bioPET, bioPA
                                                                                                                                                          and others, for the development of
                                                                                                          Alternative biopolyesters are only              textile applications.
                                                                                                          partially bio-based and non-
                                                                                                          biodegradable such as PTT (Poly
                                                                                                          Trimethylene Teraphtalate) from
                                                                                                          DuPont™-Sorona® (Wilmington,

                                                             22                                                                                      23
4.5                                           casein and is therefore completely        4.6
                   Protein Fibers                                bio-based and biodegradable.              New Sources for Natural
                                                                 Moreover, this casein is extracted from   Textile Fibers
                   Protein fibers are usually of animal          a waste product, i.e. cow's milk ,
                   origin, such as wool and cashmere.            which is no longer marketable. Qmilk      Numerous projects are currently
                   These fibers are biodegradable, but              fibers are used by, among others,      underway in Belgium, the
                   their production is associated with           the clothing brand Vaude.                 Netherlands and Germany to
                   the emission of animal greenhouse                                                       produce textiles from a diverse
                   gases. Alternative protein fibers             Another protein fiber, on the market      group of alternative, natural raw
                   have recently been introduced on              since 2015, is Biosteel fiber, produced   materials. These natural fibers are
                   the market. Casein fibers are made            by AMSilk (Planegg, Germany). It is       still in a research phase and are                        Figuur 6 Handbag (prototype)
                   from the casein protein in milk. Most         a synthetic spider silk and therefore     currently not commercially available.                    made of apple leather
                   casein fibers are produced by mixing          completely biodegradable. AMSilk                                                                   Bron Anouck Kuyckx & APPEAL
                   the casein with acrylonitrile, thus           ferments genetically modified E. coli     “Tomatentextiel” in Rotterdam aims
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                   depositing the casein on a synthetic          bacteria that make the proteins from      to produce textile from tomato stems.
                   acrylic fiber. As a result, the casein        spider silk which can eventually be       The tomato fiber is too short to be
                   fiber is more likely to be considered         spun into a yarn.                         used as a natural fiber. Therefore the          viscose from cow manure
                   a semi-synthetic product. The German                                                    cellulose is first loosened and then            containing up to 35% cellulose. The
                   Q-milk (Hannover), however, produces                                                    polymerized into a filament that can            production method of these cellulose
                   a textile fiber that consists 100% of                                                   be processed into yarn (MMC). Two               fibers consumes less energy and
                                                                                                           projects use fibers from fruit waste as         chemicals compared to the wood pulp
                                                                                                           a basis for the production of a leather         industry.
                                                                                                           alternative. The aim of the APPEAL
                                                                                                           project is to convert fruit waste into          Neffa /MycoTEX (Utrecht,

                      Fruit waste, cow manure
                                                                                                           a fully biodegradable biomaterial               the Netherlands) and Mylium
                                                                                                           with different applications such as             (Wageningen, the Netherlands)
                                                                                                           single-use plastics, agricultural foils,        produce a 100% biodegradable

                      or mushrooms as a basis                                                              decoration and textiles (Figure 6).
                                                                                                           Fruitleather Rotterdam manufactures
                                                                                                                                                           material based on mycelium, the "root"
                                                                                                                                                           of mushrooms. When the material

                        for the production of
                                                                                                           their fruit leather mainly from fruit           is fully grown (to the desired shape,
                                                                                                           waste from mangos.                              thickness, ...) the material is baked so
                                                                                                                                                           that the living mycelium cells die and

                        natural textile fibers                                                             Inspidere BV (Eindhoven, the
                                                                                                           Netherlands) produces bio-plastics
                                                                                                                                                           the material dries.

                                                                                                           such as cellulose acetate and

                                                            24                                                                                        25
5
                   Production Process
                                                                                                           companies are trying to contribute to          is being done into techniques that
                                                                                                           the development of more sustainable            provide better coloring with natural
                                                                                                           textile chemicals.                             dyes.

                                                                                                           When switching to more 'green'                 The Dutch Caffeink (Rotterdam)
                                                                                                           chemicals, many companies appear               produces a dark ink based on coffee
                                                                                                           to focus on dyes. To dye clothing,             waste. Classically, the coffee grounds
                   The production process of textiles has a significant ecological                         traditional dyeing methods use dyes            are burned, composted or fermented
                   impact in terms of chemicals, energy and water consumption and                          in excessive quantities where large            into biogas, resulting in the loss of
                   also leads to the production of textile waste and microplastics.                        quantities are discharged. Most of             valuable substances. Caffeink collects
                   Here are some technological innovations from companies on the                           today's dyes are synthetic and are             collected coffee waste, extracts a
                   German-Dutch-Belgian territory to reduce this ecological footprint.                     chemically made from petroleum,                dark pigment from it and then sells
                                                                                                           producing toxic waste. Dyes such               it to ink producing companies.
                                                                                                           as amine-containing azo dyes are               The coffee pigments can be used in
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                   5.1                                                                                     often persistent, which is a desired           paper, textiles, food and cosmetics.
                   Chemicals                                      pesticides, dyes, detergents, coatings   property in fabric, but not in the             Knipidee (Almere) uses natural dyes
                                                                  but also substances used during          environment. They sometimes also               to color their textiles. They extract
                   Many harmful chemicals such as                 machine maintenance, waste water         contain heavy metals such as lead              these from plants and animals such
                   solvents, dyes, heavy metals and               treatment, etc....                       or cadmium. Moreover, under certain            as indigo, galnuts, pomegranates,
                   surfactants are used in the production                                                  circumstances, some dyes degrade to            rhubarb, etc. Natural fabrics such as
                   of textiles. These not only pose a             In Belgium, Buckman, a company that      carcinogenic substances, while others          cotton, silk,... absorb these dyes best.
                   threat to the health of textile workers        sells chemicals for tanning leather      cause allergic reactions.( 1 ) A more          Synthetic fabrics, on the other hand,
                   and clothing wearers, but can also             and Eurodye - CTC, which produces        sustainable textile sector therefore           will usually get a lighter color. Nooboo
                   escape into the environment due to             dyes, lubricants, detergents and         switches to natural dyes. These are                (Amsterdam) released a collection
                   e.g. poor waste water treatment.( 3 )          softeners for textiles, support the      extracted from natural materials such          that was colored completely natural
                                                                  ZDHC program. In the Netherlands,        as plants and are also biodegradable.          with plants from Bali. They use the
                   The Dutch ZDHC (Zero Discharge                 chemicals producers Smit & Zoon,         Designer Anke Van Asbroeck, among              leaves of mango, tarum (indigo),
                   of Hazardous Chemicals) unites                 Stahl and Tanatex chemicals are          others, did research within Circle             mahogany and the bark of secang
                   textile brands in a collaboration              affiliated. Numerous German              Sector (Genk) on how to make                   (sapan wood) to produce the 4 basic
                   to ban harmful chemicals. For this             companies selling chemicals for the      dyes from food waste under the name            colors (green, blue, yellow and red).
                   purpose they drew up the MRSL                  manufacture and finishing of textiles    Re.Color. Natural dyes give a soft,            From these basic colors they make
                   (Manufacturing Restricted Substances           (including dyes, paints, pigments)       pleasant color to the textile. However,        all other colors. Kuyichi (Utrecht)
                   List) list of chemicals banned during          also support the work of ZDHC: CHT;      synthetic dyes are cheaper and can             produces his jeans from 100% organic
                   the entire production process. The             Dr. Petry; Lanxess; Pulcra Chemicals;    achieve a wider and more intense               cotton, colored with the natural indigo.
                   list includes products ranging from            Rudolf group and Trumpler. All these     color spectrum. However, research              Ecological textiles (Roermond)

                                                             26                                                                                      27
TO DYE OR
                                                                                                               NOT TO DYE?
                   is a fabric distributor with a range           of water, energy and chemicals.
                   of fabrics that are naturally dyed.            The laser machine is used to burn
                   Still garments (Berlin), Living Crafts         blurs in denim to replace sandpaper
                   (Selbitz) and An'tchi (Brussels) also          or chemicals. Their ozone technology
                   color their clothing with natural dyes.        is used for bleaching textiles instead
                                                                  of bleach, chemicals or stones. The
                                                                  machine sucks in atmospheric air and
                   5.2                                            converts it into ozone, giving garments
                                                                  a natural, worn-out appearance. At
                                                                                                             Other                                                        Bleaching
                   Processes with Less Energy
                                                                  the end of the cycle, the machine
                   or Water Consumption
                                                                  transforms the ozone back into air.
                   Most textile production steps,
                   such as sanding, washing, dyeing,
                                                                  Finally, there is the E-Flow machine,
                                                                  a technique that produces                                             24%
                   bleaching and finishing, consume               nanobubbles using water and an
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                                                                                                                                                                                      WANDERFUL.STREAM
                   large amounts of water (Figure 7). In
                   order to make the textile industry less
                                                                  added product to treat the garment.
                                                                  These bubbles then transport this                                                                   38%
                   environmentally damaging, at each              product into the garment. The process
                   of these steps an attempt can be               can be compared to a washing
                   made to save on energy and water               machine filled with steam instead of
                   consumption. DyeCoo (Weesp,                    water. The technique can be used to
                   the Netherlands) uses a CO²                    soften or create 3D effects without
                                                                  using a lot of water and chemicals. So
                                                                                                                                14%
                   technology for dyeing textiles. The
                   technique uses CO² under pressure              all these 3 techniques provide great
                   in which dyes dissolve easily. Thanks          water, chemicals and energy savings.
                                                                                                            Boilers                      8%
                   to the high permeability of CO², dyes
                   are transported deep into the fibers,
                                                                                                                                                      16%
                   creating vivid colors. CO² - dyeing            5.3
                   thus requires no added process                 Processes with Less
                   chemicals to dissolve dyes and is              Textile Waste                                Printing
                   completely anhydrous.                                                                                                                          Dyeing
                                                                  Cutting patterns from fabrics
                   The jeans manufacturer Kuyichi                 invariably leads to cutting loss. These
                   (Utrecht, the Netherlands) uses laser,         fabric residues can be recycled
                   ozone and E-flow as new washing                on the one hand (see further).               Figure 7 Conventional colouring processes – water consumption (%)
                   techniques to minimize the waste               However, some companies have                 Source Biria Cellulose

                                                             28                                                                                      29
developed techniques to reduce or                 consuming and expensive technique          oceans. These microfibers not only
                   even eliminate this cutting loss. For             and is therefore hardly used in the        have a negative impact on maritime
                   example, Vepa - the furniture factory             clothing industry. Another example         ecosystems, but also on human
                      (Hoogeveen, the Netherlands)                   is Knit-O-mat (Netherlands). They          health via the food chain (Figure 8).( 1 )
                   upholsters furniture in which a CNC               developed a 3D knitting process using      Alternative substances such as cotton
                   cutting machine calculates the most               state-of-heart knitting machines. The      do not secrete microplastics. There
                   optimal way of cutting in order to                machines are capable of knitting entire    are also techniques to capture these
                   minimize leftover material. Moreover,             garments or other forms, resulting in      microfibres during washing (use of
                   textile remnants are completely                   little or no waste.                        special washing products or filters in
                   recycled into mats.                                                                          the washing machine) or production
                                                                     A new seamless, three-dimensional          techniques that reduce the release of
                   The classic way of producing clothing             textile design technology is used          microfibres.
                   starts from a flat fabric that is cut into        by UNSEAM (Amsterdam &
                   pieces, with the associated cutting               Bloemendaal, the Netherlands).             The Swedish research program
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                   loss, and then usually manually sewn              Through the use of digital techniques      Mistra Future Fashion describes 3
                   together into a 3D piece. Fully fashion           and special shrinking materials, 3D        possible ways to reduce the release of
                   knitters, on the other hand, create               patterns are created in the clothing,      microplastics:
                   less waste by knitting loose pan parts            which requires less labour-intensive
                   that are then linked together. To make            actions and results in less cutting        1 Reducing brushing (used to create
                   a sweater, for example, a front panel,            loss. This enables textile brands to          fabrics such as fleece).
                   back panel and two sleeves are knitted            produce their products to measure          2 Replacing traditional cutting
                   into shape and then stitched together.            and on demand, closer to the                   methods by ultrasound or laser
                   By applying this method residual                  end user, leading to a decrease in             cutting.
                   material is avoided. A workshop where             overproduction (Figure 9).                 3 Removing microplastics in the
                   machine-knitted articles are produced                                                            production phase.
                   is “Breienbreien” (Dordrecht). They
                   produce clothing through "full fashion"           5.4                                        Another European project on this
                   knitting and "knit and wear" knitting.            Reduction Plastic Micro Fibers             theme, Life - Mermaids (Italy), reports
                   "Knit and wear" knitting is the knitting                                                     that treating the textile with certain
                   of seamless articles that no longer               Every year, billions of microplastic       excipients such as polysilk-CTE and
                   need to be cut or stitched; the articles          fibers end up in the environment by        chitosan reduces microfibre loss. They
                   come out of the knitting machine                  washing plastic-based textiles such        also described 4 polymer additives to
                   completely in a 3D shape. The latter              as polyester, acrylic and nylon. Textile   be added to detergents that reduced
                   technique also avoids residual                    production and use is thus responsible     fiber loss.
                   material, but it is a complicated, time-          for 35% of all microplastics in the

                                                                30                                                                                           31
The Problem of Microplastics

                           Every year,
                    billions of microplastic        Washing liquid               Wastewater           Wastewater

                      fibers are released                 &
                                                   Synthetic clothes
                                                                              with microplastic
                                                                                  particles
                                                                                                      treatment
                                                                                                        plants

                   into the environment by
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                                                                                                                       WANDERFUL.STREAM
                    washing plastic-based
                         textiles such as
                        polyester, acrylic
                            and nylon.

                                                   Health problems               Species eat         Micro plastics
                                                      caused to              microplastics, thus     attract organic
                                                  animals & humans         entering the food chain      pollution

                                               Figure 8 The problem of microplastics
                                               Source Life Mermaids

                               32                                                      33
6
                   New Earning
                   Models
                                                                                                             STAY AWHILE (Germany) gives you                 and Streisant second hand clothing.
                                                                                                             two options to rent clothes: you can            In Liège are La Gerabotte, Le balon
                                                                                                             go for the self-selection box, with this        rouge, Les Petits Riens and Boutique
                                                                                                             you choose which clothes you rent. If           Terre stores who sell second-
                                                                                                             you go for the self-selection box, they         hand clothing. In Maastricht there
                                                                                                             will put together an individual box with        is also a secondhand store called
                                                                                                             fresh looks for you.                            Secondhand4All. In Aachen there are
                   Nowadays, the majority of the fashion offer consists of fast                                                                              boutiques like Second Hand Korner,
                   fashion products. In large retail chains, every six weeks new and                         Also at Myonbelle , Rent ,                      Großformat and Kinder Second Hand
                   inexpensive collections are available. On average, a garment is worn                      Dresscoded , Kilenda , Kindoo                   for money box that sell second hand
                   only 7 times. As fashion journalist Dana Thomas describes in her                          and many others in Germany you                  clothing.
                   book Fashionopolis - The price of fast fashion and the future of                          can rent clothes.
                   clothes, "Our current consumption pattern and love of fast fashion                                                                        Second-hand clothing can be sold by
                   is like a drug addiction. We've taken an overdose and need to                                                                             the user on second-hand sites such
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                                                                                                                                                                                                       WANDERFUL.STREAM
                   rehabilitate". Clothing could be worn for a much longer period of                         6.2                                             as tweedehands.be, ebay, bobbo,
                   time. Solutions for this are: renting and borrowing clothes or reselling                  Re-Sale                                         marketplace or on Facebook. The
                   the clothes after a first life (vintage clothes).                                                                                         disadvantage of this is that it is less
                                                                                                             In the Netherlands, it is estimated             safe than specialized websites or
                                                                                                             that 55% of the textiles collected are          apps. United Wardrobe (Utrecht)
                   6.1                                           Circos (Amsterdam, Netherlands) is          suitable for reuse, 37% for recycling           and The Next Closet (Amsterdam)
                   Rent Out                                      a webshop that rents out clothing for       and 8% are waste. Of course, many               are platforms that focus on second
                                                                 children up to 3 years old. By renting /    second-hand clothing is also passed             hand clothing. Vinted is an online
                   Closet in the Cloud and Tale Me               renting out less material is wasted so      on directly from citizen to citizen,            marketplace that originated in
                      in Belgium rent out clothing at            less new cotton has to be produced.         traded by them through the internet             Lithuania and is active in more than
                   reasonable prices.                                                                        or offered to thrift stores. Many thrift        ten countries, including Belgium and
                                                                 Many children's items are only used         stores also sell second-hand clothing           the Netherlands. United Wardrobe, The
                   Besides selling ecological denim, MUD         for a short period of time. Mic mac         in the EMR region: there are more               Next Closet and Vinted work both via
                   JEANS (Laren, the Netherlands)                minuscule works with you to draw up         than 6 thrift stores in Liège, 24 in            website and app. On the app Swapp
                   also offers the rental service 'Lease         the list of things you need for your baby   Belgian Limburg, 77 in Dutch Limburg               (Hoorn, the Netherlands) clothing,
                   a Jeans'. This service is completely          on the way. You can buy these items at      and 13 in the German part of the EMR            jewelry and accessories can be
                   focused on sustainability. You borrow         half the new price and if you take good     region. Numerous other second-hand              exchanged, bought or sold.
                   a pair of jeans until it is completely        care of them, you can bring them back       stores offer used clothes a new life.
                   worn out and then these jeans are             into the Mic mac miniscule cycle.           In the Limburg capital Hasselt sell
                   processed into a new one.                                                                 Twenty Second Vintage, Hallelujah,
                                                                                                             Ladyland, Chou-Fleur kids, Cinderella

                                                            34                                                                                          35
7
                                       Textile Design

                      A cradle-to-
                    cradle certified   Currently, most textile companies
                                       have little alignment between the
                                                                                        C&A (Belgian-German-Dutch)
                                                                                        developed a cradle-to-cradle

                     T-shirt can be
                                       textile design and the recycling                 certified T-shirt made entirely of
                                       process needed afterwards. Often                 organic cotton, including the stitching.
                                       mixtures of different materials are              The T-shirt was treated with safe

                   fully composted     used which are difficult to separate
                                       after use. Even when garments are
                                                                                        chemicals and colored with non-
                                                                                        toxic paint. All this ensures that the
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                                                                                                                                   WANDERFUL.STREAM
                                       labeled as 100% of a pure material,              T-shirt can be fully composted when

                   or recycled when    they can still contain small amounts
                                       of other materials, for example in the
                                                                                        it cannot be worn again or recycled.

                      it cannot be
                                       seams. ( 1 ) One of the prerequisites for
                                       a circular textile processing concept is
                                       the use of as pure textiles as possible.

                       worn again.     Separating textiles can
                                       be quite time consuming. Labels,
                                       zippers, buttons,... need to be
                                       removed completely.

                                       Wear2go from Valkenswaard, the
                                       Netherlands uses a patented sewing
                                       thread in combination with microwave
                                       technology to completely disassemble
                                       garments. Resortecs (Waarschoot,
                                       Belgium) solves this problem by
                                       providing a thread "smart stitch" that
                                       easily dissolves at high temperature
                                       so that zippers and buttons can be
                                       easily removed.

                           36                                                      37
8
                   Recycling
                                                                                              8.1                                             proceeds from the resale go to
                                                                                              Textile Collection                              development projects all over the
                                                                                                                                              world. We see an analogous project
                                                                                              Worldwide, about 20% of all textile             in the 'WE TAKE IT BACK' recycling
                                                                                              waste is collected for reuse or                 programme of C&A (Dutch chain).
                                                                                              recycling. However, there are large             For each bag a customer brings in,
                                                                                              regional differences. In Germany, for           he receives a discount voucher of
                   In Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany there are numerous                 example, 75% of discarded clothing is           15%. I:CO then collects and processes
                   companies that contribute to the textile recycling chain including         collected, while in the US and China            all collected clothing. If the clothes
                   collection, sorting, recycling to the redevelopment of new products.       it is only 10-15%. However, many of             cannot be worn again, they can
                   After recycling, the textile pieces that are still usable end up on the    the garments collected in Western               be given a new life in all kinds of
                   second hand market. Other materials are reduced to dust, usually after     countries are exported to countries             other forms: from cleaning cloths to
                   fibrousification, from which new products are produced, such as new        such as Asia and Africa, where they             furniture,...
                   garments, or to lower value applications such as cleaning rags, bags,      do not have their own collection
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                                                                                                                                                                                        WANDERFUL.STREAM
                   insulation materials... In Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, for       infrastructure. In the end, therefore,
                   example, a large number of companies are involved in the collection,       these clothes often end up in landfills.        8.2
                   sorting and recycling of used textiles. Examples from the EMR region                                                       Textile Sorting
                   include Recytex Europe (Seraing) and Groupe Terre (Herstal), both          Textile collection is usually organized
                   active in the collection and triage of used textiles.                      by a number of commercial and social            Once textile is collected, it must
                                                                                              organizations. However, more and                be sorted into separate material
                   Recycling encompasses a whole chain of textile collection, sorting         more fashion chains are starting their          streams suitable for the various
                   and a range of recycling technologies. A number of specific initiatives    own textile collection. For example,            recycling techniques. Nowadays this
                   around these themes are described below.                                   JBC (Houthalen-Helchteren, Belgium)             sorting is mainly done manually. This
                                                                                              offers a permanent collection of                process could be greatly facilitated
                                                                                              clothing in all stores. Thanks to               by developing optical sorting
                                                                                              a collaboration with Wereld Missie              technologies that increase the speed
                                                                                              Hulp (Boechout, Belgium) and Wolkat             of the process.
                                                                                              (Tilburg, the Netherlands), usable
                                                                                              clothing is resold second hand and              Four European research projects
                                                                                              the rest is sold as raw material for            have developed pilot facilities for
                                                                                              new products. Previously, up to                 recognition and sorting equipment
                                                        Figure 9 UNSEAM Seamless design       35% of the collected clothing was a             based on near-infrared spectroscopy
                                                        of the textile process by Bas Froon   waste product, now this is reduced              (NIR) and visual spectroscopy (VIS)
                                                        and Karin Vlug                        to 5 to 10%, which is also incinerated          for sorting textile waste by fiber type
                                                        Source Unseam                         to generate energy. Moreover, the               and color: SIPTex (i. s.m. a.o. Boer

                                                            38                                                                           39
group), Fibresort (with a.o. Valvan             8.3
                   Baling Systems (Menen, Belgium)                 Recycling Techniques
                   and Wieland Textiles (Wormerveer,

                                                                                                                  SMEs play a crucial
                   the Netherlands), Identex by                    In order to be able to convert textile
                   Textiles4Textiles (in collaboration             waste into recovered textiles, there
                   with a.o. Wieland Textiles and the              are different types of recycling
                   Laserzentrum Hannover) and Resyntex
                   (Resyntex, 2019). These sorting
                                                                   technologies. Some of these are
                                                                   already on a commercial level,                role in the Euroregion
                   devices detect and sort clothing                other techniques are still under
                   by type and color of fiber using
                   spectrography. Because each type
                                                                   development or have difficulties to be
                                                                   cost competitive with newly produced
                                                                                                                  and are the driving
                                                                                                                     force behind a
                   of fiber shows a unique distribution            textile material. Also, there is still only
                   of the color spectrum, the computer             limited know-how on separating mixed
                   can make a quick analysis of the                textile materials. Recycling can take
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                                                                                                                                          WANDERFUL.STREAM
                   fabric in terms of composition, color
                   and structure of the fibers used. The
                                                                   place at the level of fabric, yarn, fibers,
                                                                   polymers (mechanical or chemical)               circular economy.
                   analysis is followed by transport by            and monomers (Figure 10).
                   conveyor belt to the place intended
                   for the group of garments in question.
                   For the clothing industry, this precise
                   and fast triage offers the perspective
                   of a very large and consistent supply
                   of high quality raw materials from
                   discarded garments. The supply of
                   the necessary technology for the
                   transition to a circular textile economy
                   is thus there. Once the old textiles
                   have been sorted, they can easily be
                   processed into new textiles.

                                                              40                                                           41
Routes for Re-use of Textile                                                            Closed Loop Recycle,
                                                                                                            Up-or Downcycling
                                                                                                                                    Open-Loop Recycling,
                                                                                                                                     Downcycling
                   Figure 10 Classification of textile reuse and recycling routes                           Energy Recovery          Reuse
                   Source Medium

                               Fibre Polymers,                            Product/Garment                    Yarn Spinning                             Fabric Weaving,
                                Natural Fibres                              Cut, Sew, Trim                                                                Knitting
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                                                                                       Fibre Recycling,
                                                                                      Fabric Recycling,
                                                                                    Monomer/ Oligomer/
                                                                                     Polymer Recycling
                                                       Use                                                        Post-
                                                      Phase                                                     Consumer                        Heat or Electricity     Burning
                     Bottles                                                                                      Waste

                                                                                                                                                 Rags, Blankets,      Fabric, Fibre
                                                                                                                                                   Insulation           Recyling

                      Post-Industrial
                          Waste
                                                                                                               Renting, Trading,
                                                                                                             Swapping, Borrowing
                                                            42                                                                             43
8.3.1                                          Pōur (Wijlre, the Netherlands) reuses      made at Vanhully (Groningen, The               8.3.2
                   Recycling of fabrics                           workwear in all kinds of bags and          Netherlands). Indigo Ravens (Utrecht,          Mechanical fiber recycling
                   Recycling of fabrics uses intact pieces        backpacks. Also outside the EMR            The Netherlands) gives old clothing            In mechanical fiber recycling, textiles
                   of fabric, from factory remnants               region, there are many companies           a second life by making new clothes            are sorted according to material and
                   or large pieces of fabric from used            in the Netherlands that do fabric          out of it. HENK is a fashion label that        color, after which they are torn to
                   clothing, to create a new textile item.        recycling. In Amsterdam, companies         makes clothes and bags out of fabrics          fiber level. The fibers of the fabrics
                   This type of recycling is currently            such as Hacked by, Dom, Mon Sak            from the 80's and 90's and Wear Patch          are thus retained and reused. The
                   only applicable on a small scale as            and Makers Unite produce unique            makes clothes and pillowcases out of           largest Dutch fiber manufacturer is
                   it is a labor-intensive process and            clothing or accessories made from          old clothes. Residual textiles are also        Frankenhuis (Haaksbergen) which
                   because of inconsistent supply. Many           residual textiles. Hacked By uses          used for the creation of tapestries            fiberizes various textile streams
                   SMEs in the Netherlands, Belgium and           overstock clothing as a starting point     (Studio Mieke Lucia) or panels to              including post-consumer clothing and
                   Germany recycle used fabrics into              for their new clothing. They used to       divide spaces (Simone Post). In Berlin         industrial textiles. The two Belgian flax
                   new textile items.                             work together with H&M. The sales          (Germany), the Mimycri team makes              companies Derotex (Wielsbeke) and
                                                                  items of H&M that were not sold            rubber handbags from refugee boats             Procotex (Dottignies) extend their
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                   In Belgium, Flagbag (Hasselt) makes            were upcycled and sold in the H&M          left on the beach in Greece. Also              field of expertise to fiber recycling.
                   shoulder bags, bicycle bags or toilet          flagship stores. Dom and Mon Sak           Wiederbelebt from Stuttgart upcycled           Derotex recycles, among other things,
                   bags from discarded flags, pennants            produce bags, respectively from old        dust into clothing.                            jute and sisal by fiberization of used
                   and sails. The clothing brand Paule            clothing remnants and from rejected                                                       bags. Procotex recycles both natural
                   Josephe (Ghent) produces women's               leather. At Makers Unite, newcomers                                                       and synthetic textile waste. RVN
                   and men's shirts from used men's               with a migration background make                                                          Faserproduktion (Neuenmarkt) uses

                                                                                                                Getting
                   shirts. In studio AMA (Ghent) they             bags from old life jackets used during                                                    both natural and synthetic fibers as
                   make clothes from post-production              the migration. In Arnhem Fraenck,                                                         raw materials for the production of
                   and post-consumer waste such as                Schrav, Hul le kes and Wintervacht are                                                    new fibers. The fibers are used by
                   towels, old shirts, etc. TOP-studio
                   (Zellik, Belgium) stimulates designers
                                                                  upcycling used or discarded textiles.
                                                                  Fraenck uses cuttings from sailmakers
                                                                                                             started with                                   their customers in acoustic parts of
                                                                                                                                                            cars, mattresses, insulation panels,...
                   to work with recycled fabrics. In              and remnants of artificial leather in
                   doing so, TOP-atelier tries to provide
                   a continuous inflow of source
                                                                  their handbags. Schrav and Hul le kes
                                                                  make clothes from textile leftovers.
                                                                                                               residual                                     The disadvantage of mechanical
                                                                                                                                                            fiberization is that fibers are shortened
                   material and focuses on innovative
                   sorting systems and optimal cutting
                                                                  Winter coat makes jackets from old
                                                                  wool blankets. Also in other Dutch            textile                                     and weakened during grinding. As
                                                                                                                                                            a result, fiberization often leads to
                   techniques to reduce cutting loss.             cities they work with residual textiles.                                                  applications with a lower value (so-
                                                                  Ressies Redesign from Haarlem makes                                                       called downcycling) such as use in
                   COFA (Sittard, the Netherlands) makes          surf clothing and accessories from                                                        insulation materials, car parts, carpets
                   aprons and sports bags from used               old wind sails or wetsuits. From your                                                     or mattresses. Vepa - the furniture
                   workwear from various industries.              old shirt you can have a boxershort                                                       factory (Hoogeveen, the Netherlands)

                                                             44                                                                                        45
processes their cutting loss into a            mill that produces fabrics using natural    The open innovation center Texperium
                   type of felt that they use as padding          and recycled fibers. I-did (Utrecht, the    (Haaksbergen, the Netherlands) is
                   in their acoustic walls. VRK Insulation        Netherlands) produces a high-quality        specialized in consultancy in the
                      (Tilburg, the Netherlands) fiberizes        design felt from mechanically recycled      field of mechanical textile recycling
                   unusable clothing into a high-quality          fibers from discarded textiles. Their       and the use of recycled materials in
                   insulation product consisting of 90%           goal is to create more valuable             new applications. When developing
                   recycled cotton fibers. CEMBA (Leiden,         products such as interior products,         projects, they form consortia and can
                   the Netherlands) makes mattresses              bags and accessories.                       make use of their pilot set-ups.
                   and blankets from recycled textile
                   fibers from the garment industry               For many companies, jeans textiles are
                   in Bangladesh. In Belgium, Vanotex             the starting point for fiber recycling.                                                          Recycled
                   NV (Deinze) and Debeltex (Kortrijk)            DenimX (Maastricht) developed                                                                   Jeans Fibre
                   produce synthetic production waste             a composite material based on                                                                        +
                                                                                                                    Overstock/
                   for reuse in, among other things, felt,        shredded jeans fibers and the bio-                                                               Biobased
WANDERFUL.STREAM

                                                                                                                                                                                               WANDERFUL.STREAM
                                                                                                                 Recollected Jeans
                   mattresses and fibers for the car              based plastic PLA. For production,                                                                Plastic
                   industry.                                      DenimX can use textile waste streams
                                                                  from their customers as well as
                   Fibrous textiles can also be used for          post-consumer waste. The material is
                   the manufacture of new garments                suitable for the production of furniture,
                   (upcycling). As a result of the fiber          suitcases, helmets, etc. (Figure 11). An
                   weakening that occurs during the               analogous process can be found at                                                                         Panel Lamination
                                                                                                                                                 MMD
                   recycling process, yarn production             Rezign (Sliedrecht, the Netherlands).
                   always requires a combination with             Old jeans are processed into yarn
                                                                                                                               3D
                   new, high quality fibers. Circular             and combined with a bio-plastic to
                                                                                                                             Forming
                   systems S.P.C. (Amsterdam, The
                   Netherlands) produces Orbital
                                                                  apply to a piece of furniture. Blue
                                                                  LOOP (Goor, Netherlands), MUD
                                                                                                                                              DENIM X
                                                                                                                                         Circular Product
                   hybrid yarns from organic cotton               JEANS (Laren, Netherlands) and HNST
                   and mechanically recycled synthetic            (Antwerp, Belgium) unravel old jeans
                   fibers through their Texloop recycling         to fiber level to create new clothing or                                                 Design & Engineering
                   process. Circularity (Heusden, The             jeans. Blue LOOP mixes 30% recycled
                   Netherlands) makes new yarns from              cotton fiber with 70% new fiber such
                   cutting waste and used clothing using          as lyocell. The jeans from MUD JEANS        Figure 11 DenimX process flow
                   the fibrization process to make new            consists of 40% recycled denim fiber        Source www.denimx.nl
                   products such as T-shirts. Enschede            and the jeans HNST consists of no less
                   Textielstad is a sustainable weaving           than half recycled denim fiber.

                                                             46                                                                                       47
8.3.3                                         clothing and plastic bags are shredded      SaXcell (Losser, the Netherlands)              The starting project Upset Textiles
                   Polymer recyclage                             and processed into granules. This           produces a chemically recycled                 (Rotterdam) wants to introduce
                                                                 granulate is extruded into different        textile fiber based on household               an innovative recycling technology
                   Polymer recycling destroys the fibers         profiles. These profiles can be used for    cotton waste. First household cotton           that makes it possible to convert
                   and converts them back to polymer             terraces, flower boxes, sound barriers,     textile waste is sorted into as pure as        100% cotton textile waste into 100%
                   level, leaving the chemical structure         beams, etc. Wootex is as strong as          possible waste stream. After sorting           recycled yarn.
                   of the material intact. A distinction         wood and comparable in use but has          and removal of non-textile components
                   is made between mechanical and                the advantage that it does not splinter     such as zippers and buttons, the dry
                   chemical techniques.                          and is weather resistant.                   mixture is chemically decolorized
                                                                                                             and wet spun according to a process
                   Mechanical polymer recycling is               Pentatonic (Berlin + London,                similar to the production of viscose or
                   done by melting plastic-based textiles        Germany + UK) is a company that             lyocell. The end product produces a
                   consisting of a single material. An           uses different waste streams with its       regenerated pure cellulose fiber.
                   example is PET that can be melted and         technology and upgrades them in new
WANDERFUL.STREAM

                   spun into a new filament.                     products and applications. Their latest
                                                                 collection includes a series of furniture
                   Waste 2 Wear is a project started by          and objects made from recycled
                   the Dutch textile engineer Monique            PET and from clothes thrown away in
                   Maissan. Plastic bottles are collected        Europe.

                                                                                                                           From 100% cotton
                   from the ocean and from the coast
                   and mechanically recycled into yarn.          ADVANSA (Hamm), in collaboration
                   Waste 2 Wear further processes                with the Canadian company Plastic
                   this yarn into fabrics for various
                   applications.
                                                                 Bank Aerelle Blue, produces a fiber
                                                                 made from recycled PET.
                                                                                                                         textile waste to 100%
                   The project Eigendraads (Rotterdam)
                   converted the polyester from used
                                                                 Chemical polymer recycling can be
                                                                 used for both synthetic and cotton
                                                                                                                             recycled yarn
                   marathon shirts of the Rotterdam 2019         fabrics. The substance is dissolved by
                   marathon into new polyester yarn in           means of solvents in order to come
                   collaboration with a recycler and a           back to the polymer. An example is the
                   spinner.                                      recycling of cotton or cellulose based
                                                                 fibers to make a regenerated cellulose
                   Altena infra (Kampen, the Netherlands)        fiber by dissolving the cellulose in a
                   produces the plastic Wootex from              solvent, followed by spinning of the
                   old clothing and plastic bags. The old        solution.

                                                            48                                                                                         49
8.3.4                                          22Paradise (Amsterdam,
                                           Chemial Monomer Recycling                      Netherlands) designs swimwear from
                                                                                          Econyl , a regenerated nylon from Italy
                                           In chemical monomer recycling,                 (Arco). Econyl , is produced from old

                        Nowadays,
                                           the polymers are further broken                carpets or fishing nets. After recovery
                                           down into individual monomers                  of the nylon, the fabric is depolymerized
                                           using chemicals from which new                 and then regenerated into nylon of the

                   most recycled fibers    materials are then synthesized. An
                                           example of chemical recycling is the
                                                                                          same quality as new nylon.

                     do not come from
                                           degradation of PET or nylon building           Resyntex was a European research
                                           blocks and polymerization of these             project with partners from 10 different
                                           molecules into a new molecule. This            EU countries in which an innovative

                   old clothing but from   technology is about to be applied to
                                           plastic materials such as polyester
                                                                                          pilot installation for textile recycling
                                                                                          (in Slovenia) was developed. An
WANDERFUL.STREAM

                                                                                                                                      WANDERFUL.STREAM
                                           and nylon, but is not yet widely               automated sorting process based

                   other plastic sources   applied to textiles due to lack of cost
                                           competitiveness compared to newly
                                                                                          on infrared technology was linked to
                                                                                          chemical and enzymatic processes

                    such as PET bottles
                                           produced polyester fibers. Nowadays,           that convert textile fibers into
                                           most recycled fibers therefore do not          secondary raw materials and plastics.
                                           come from old clothing but from other
                                           plastic sources such as PET bottles.
                                           For natural fibers such as cotton and
                                           wool, chemical monomer recycling is
                                           currently in an R&D phase.

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