Specialty Fabrics Review August 2024 - 72

systems before they know how EPR
will work, " she says.
As complex as the task of recycling
textiles is, Vilén says Sweden has set an
example of how it can work through
the challenges in its recycling of
plastics. Similar to the EPR for textiles,
Sweden requires producers of plastic
packaging to recycle plastic and has
set up the largest and most efficient
plant for plastic recycling in Europe,
according to Swedish Plastic Recycling.
The higher cost of recycling products
At the Siptex facility, run by Swedenbased
Sysav, textiles are sorted by fiber
and color using near-infrared and visual
spectroscopy. Image: Siptex
is another challenge. " A brand may
want to recycle all of their [employee]
vests, " says John Peoples, president of
Leigh Fibers, " but do they really want
to incur the cost of accumulating all
of them and have the freight expense
involved of sending it to us? A lot of
SUSTAINABILITY NEWS
Syre receives further investment
Syre, founded by Vargas Holding and H&M Group in March
this year, announced $100 million in further investment
by TPG Rise Climate, H&M, IMAS Foundation (tied to
IKEA), Volvo Cars and others. The funding will finance the
blueprint plant in North Carolina, projected to be up and
running later this year. The first two polyester recycling
plants potentially will
be built in Vietnam
and on the Iberian
Peninsula to be close
to established supply
chains for feedstock,
expertise, logistics and
green energy. The next
goal is to begin plant
construction in 2025.
The funding allowed
A shirt made from recycled
polyester. Image: Syre
Syre to purchase
patented recycling
technology from Premirr Plastics, based in Garner, N.C.,
which was a previous participant in Fashion for Good's
Global Innovation Programme.
72 SPECIALTY FABRICS REVIEW / August 2024
Woolen mill achieves Zero to Landfill status
AW Hainsworth, a British fabric manufacturer and
woolen mill, has achieved Zero to Landfill status
through recycling and waste reduction. It partnered
with Reconomy, a circular waste management provider,
and invested in machinery to manage on-site waste by
installing energy-efficient plastic and cardboard balers.
It worked with suppliers to reduce yarn packaging
waste, and another supplier switched to reusable from
disposable dye cones, which saved 45,000 cones over a
span of two years from being sent into the waste stream.
During the past year, the textile producer has
completed several projects to help reach its sustainability
goals, increase operational efficiency, and reduce energy
consumption and waste. A key example is using undyed
yarns in partnership with some aviation customers to
create sustainable seating and vertical surface fabrics.
Using 100% undyed wool reduces energy, water and
waste effluent in manufacturing. The company published
its 2023 Sustainability Report this spring and plans to hire
a head of sustainability. The textile mill was established
in 1783 and is based in West Yorkshire, England.
times, when it comes down to what
it really costs to do it, people aren't
always on board. So the accumulation
of postconsumer waste, gathering it and
getting it to us in a format that's useful,
that's an [ongoing] challenge. "
While much of textile recycling is
focused on what can be done with a
textile after it's been produced, Peoples
says emphasis also needs to be placed on
how a product is made in the first place.
" It really has to start from the design
side, " he says. " When you're designing
clothing, if you've got a garment that
has three or four different types of
material in it, it is going to be more
difficult to process or recycle than if
you have something that's all cotton
or all polyester. So sustainability will
really be driven as much by the design
Specialty Fabrics Review August 2024

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