Collecting and recycling second hand clothing is increasing worldwide in line with increasing awareness and a push from relevant legislations, to decrease waste and to efficiently use natural resources.
Circular solutions where textiles are recycled into textiles are imperative, however they have limitations due to the nature of clothing. Blended materials or multicolored garments sometimes limit the mechanical or chemical recycling of textiles with current technologies. With R&D projects carried out around the world, recycling into non-textile industries constitutes a practical alternative solution.
We have analysed some companies and their solutions for recycling used textiles into insulation, filling materials and more:
Le Relais – Metisse® Metisse® was developed by Le Relais in 2007 to use post-consumer cotton textiles for acoustic and thermal insulation. Metisse Eco baffle sound insulation provides 95% sound absorption and is ideal for meeting rooms, schools, open spaces and more.
.PLANQ Planq is a Dutch sustainable furniture brand, that works with innovative materials such as recycled textiles and biobased resources. Their brand Rezign® is a recycled veneer made of textile residues such as old denim, army clothing, suits, and biobased fibers such as flax, hemp and jute coffee bags, that can be used in furniture to reflect contemporary design and environmental consciousness.
Isocoton Isover is an insulation company owned by Saint Gobain, France, that focuses on sustainable solutions. Isover has created Isocoton which is a high-performance, biobased insulation material made from locally recycled textiles.
FabBRICK FabBRICK is a French company that turns companies’ textile wastes such as production scraps, work clothes, prototypes, defective products etc and uses these to produce bricks of different shapes and colors, furniture or wall coverings. Their technology can be adapted to all types of textiles and it was patented in 2019.
Kvadrat really is a Danish company upcycling textile waste into premium quality engineered materials such as textile tabletop, textile board and textile felt for interior and industrial scale products.
SK-Tex SK-Tex is a textile recycling company from Slovakia, active for 23 years and that processes 3,500 tons of textile waste annualy. The company recycles second hand clothing into insulation materials for automotive, furniture and construction businesses.
Manifattura Maiano The Italian company processes textile fibers to produce felts, wadding and insulation for furniture, footwear, insulation, automotive and more. 70% of the companies raw materials are from recycled materials