A Switzerland-based joint venture between three partners has been set up to industrialise, standardise and scale up textile fibre recycling.
The partners are Rieter Group, a leading supplier of natural and man-made fibres, textile engineers Säntis Textiles and Belgian sorting technology specialist Valvan.
Their venture, Recycling Powerhouse, proposes a franchise-driven business model for the production of high-quality, certified yarns. The first franchise is scheduled to launch early next year in partnership with Suhail Industrial Holding Group in Qatar.
Global network planned
Recycling Powerhouse wants to establish a global network of textile recycling plants capable of converting post- and pre-consumer textile waste into yarn on an unprecedented industrial scale. Currently, only 1% of used textiles are recycled worldwide.
Recycling Powerhouse provide standardised recycling concepts, technologies, operating procedures, digital solutions, audit services and technical support to franchise partners worldwide. The partners will gain access to Recycling Powerhouse’s recycling solutions, engineering know-how, training programmes and operational support.
Yarns produced by franchisees will be marketed under an established brand and Recycling Powerhouse will support quality requirements through auditing, certification and full end-to-end traceability across the value chain.
Rieter is contributing its tearing and spinning expertise for short-staple fibres while Valvan is providing textile sorting equipment and know-how, including the automated and AI-based machine Fibersort.
Moving into textiles
The Qatar franchise is with Suhail Industrial Holding Group, a leading recycler of metals, steel and plastic in the Middle East, which wants to extend its operations into textile recycling.
Noel Norking, md of Recycling Powerhouse, says: ‘Our mission is to make textile recycling simple, scalable and accessible to investors, so they can turn the textile industry’s tectonic shifts into monumental opportunity while helping to solve the world’s growing textile waste problem.’
Rieter ceo Thomas Oetterli says it is bringing its greatest strengths to one of the world’s most pressing issues: textile waste. ‘By combining leading-edge spinning technology, decades of recycling expertise and advanced traceability solutions, the venture creates a strategic platform to unlock new growth opportunities across machinery sales, engineering services, recycling technologies and recycled yarn markets.’
Frank Vandeputte, owner of the Valvan Group, adds: ‘At the heart of any effective recycling system is the ability to separate pure fractions from waste streams.’
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