A year ago, we partnered with Provence TLC, an expert in sorting and valorizing textiles, to support stakeholders in the textile industry with their textile waste valorization projects! (TLC = Textiles, Household Linen, and Shoes)
Since then, we have been focusing on the collection of end-of-life textiles, starting with tights, socks, and leggings, which became our first case study. This waste stream is quite homogeneous in the territory and contains a significant amount of nylon: an average of 85%.
Over the past two years, our partnership has continued to grow, and the amount of collected materials has steadily increased!
This year, we collected a total of 12 tons of used textiles across all developed streams – a true record for us, which also signals significant progress in the years ahead! 🌍♻️ (2021 data: 900 kg / 2022 data: 3 tons) (😉 Refashion)
To celebrate this anniversary, we visited Vitrolles, at the heart of their sorting center, to meet the teams and better understand the challenges related to textile sorting, specifically our waste stream. We were warmly welcomed, as always by all our partners, but this time we even got the chance to step into the sorting line and select our nylon-polyamide items 😮
To begin our research and develop our recycling process in 2021, we decided to start by exploring tights and nylon stockings because, believe it or not, they do not get recycled!
Belonging to the category of “complex textiles” or “blended textiles,” they make up about 47.4%* of the collected waste. These items are made of two materials: nylon and elastane. It is this very small-scale bi-composition that makes mechanical recycling impossible.
So, as a consumer of textiles made from nylon (where the labels on your clothing indicate multiple materials), know that you can participate in these recyclability studies with us by dropping off your worn items at nearby voluntary collection points, along with any other clothes that cannot be repaired or “upcycled.”
To highlight this successful collaboration during our first year, we have a little surprise planned for the end of June!
A big thank you to Provence TLC for participating in our innovative project and contributing to transforming the textile industry into a more circular one!
🤝 Zeynep GULES and all the field teams, who tirelessly sort and re-sort our TLCs, for their dedication, passion, and commitment.
According to a Re_Fashion study after 3 experimental campaigns on this waste stream
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