SCIRT concludes after three years of research into textile recycling

The SCIRT (System Circularity and Innovative Recycling in Textiles) project celebrated the conclusion of a three-year European research project aimed at accelerating the transition to a circular fashion industry during the Biarritz Good Fashion 2024 event. Within this project, 18 European partners worked together under the leadership of the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO). The entire textile value chain was involved and both industry and research institutions worked together to develop innovative solutions that both reduce fashion’s environmental footprint and meet the needs of brands and consumers.

SCIRT: towards a circular fashion sector

Central to SCIRT was a ‘demand-driven’ approach: what do fashion brands and retailers need to really change? In collaboration with brands and other industry players, a number of demo projects were defined, in which textile-to-textile recycling played an important role.

This approach led to the development of concrete products and technologies that not only demonstrated the challenges and opportunities in terms of technical feasibility of recycling, but also its commercial potential.

What did the brands involved develop?

One of the most tangible results of the SCIRT project are the demo garments developed by the brands involved. The Belgian Xandres and French Decathlon presented the items they launched on the market at the closing event.

Xandres

Xandres developed a limited edition two-piece from houndstooth fabric composed of 17 percent recycled wool from collected clothing, 36 percent recycled polyester (PET bottles), 25 percent polyester and 22 percent wool. The small ‘color specks’ that you see in the fabric are inherent to the recycled fabric. Xandres puts these subtle imperfections in the spotlight as proof of the circular path that each piece has taken. Only 100 numbered pieces of both the jacket and skirt were created and sold online and in Xandres stores from October 21.

Decathlon

Decathlon designed a swimsuit for easier recycling. It contains 93 percent recycled polyester (PES)* and 7 percent elastane. Resortecs Belgian fusible yarn was used to simplify disassembly and an RFID tag was incorporated to improve traceability and sorting.

*Post-consumer recycled PES fibers. 100 percent PES = 85 percent PET, 15 percent PTT, compatible with thermomechanical recycling.

The other brands presented demos that are not (yet) available on the market. Petit Bateau developed a T-shirt with 50 percent recycled cotton, sourced from second-hand Petit Bateau items, combined with 50 percent new organic cotton. Bel&Bo presented a women’s polo made from 50 percent recycled viscose and 50 percent Tencel. These fibers come from garments collected via the Bel&Back take-back system. HNST developed denim with 80 percent recycled denim fibers and 20 percent Tencel.

It also moves further in the chain

Not only the fashion brands involved presented their demos. Important research was also conducted further along the chain. Some of the key developments were presented during SCIRT’s closing event.

Recycled yarns

The yarns developed within this project:

Fibersort 2.0 and Trimclean technology

The Belgian Valvan has more than 38 years of experience in sorting and baling. Thanks to SCIRT, the Fibersort will be further developed to a new level. The Fibersort 2.0 is an automated system that accurately sorts large quantities of textile waste based on fiber composition and color. It is based on NIR technology and optimized with AI technology for faster and more accurate sorting. In addition, Valvan also launched the Trimclean, a machine that removes zippers and buttons to improve the recycling process.

“With the advent of fast fashion, we see a decrease in quality and an increase in quantity of collected textiles. This makes innovations in sorting and recycling all the more important.”

Detection and removal of elastane

One of the biggest challenges in textile recycling is elastane, a fiber that is difficult to separate but is often added to clothing to increase stretch and comfort. Avoiding elastane in the fabric choice of clothing is therefore an important ‘eco design’ principle if you want to design for recyclability.

TU Wien has developed a method to detect and remove elastane with non-toxic solvents, without damaging the other fibers. This will greatly improve recycling processes for clothing containing elastane. Scaling up the technology is still necessary and in general the eco-design guideline ‘avoid elastane in your fiber mix’ still applies.

True Cost calculator

On October 24, VITO and Flanders DC will launch a True Cost Calculator via a webinar. A free online tool that allows brands to calculate the social and environmental impact of their garments. This helps designers and buyers to include sustainability in their decisions by monetizing external costs, such as environmental damage.

Some important lessons learned

1. Ecodesign is not a piece of cake.

While the project started ambitiously based on a demand-driven approach, it soon became apparent that some demos had to be adjusted by the brands. For example, Xandres initially had the idea to recycle his own trousers made from a fiber mix of wool, polyester and elastane into a similar fabric. Even during the small-scale laboratory tests, it was quickly determined that the cloth was composed in such a way that recycling it would lead to too high environmental and economic costs. The yarn was twisted so strongly to guarantee high quality that it had to be ‘shredded’ several times, which costs a lot of energy, but also leads to a fiber that is too short and weak.

“At a certain point you realize that you have to make choices. Unfortunately, ‘design for longevity’ (with a focus on high quality) does not always go hand in hand with ‘design for recyclability’ or ‘design with recycled content’. This was an important finding for us and the larger project.”

2. One industry, many languages.

While we often talk about ‘the fashion sector’, this collaboration with 18 partners throughout the entire chain made it more than clear that there is not ‘one sector’. Closing this chain and making it circular requires communication, cooperation and transparency.

“We assume that we are in the same chain and therefore speak the same language.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Just because you put clothing on the market does not mean that you know all the steps just as well and know how to do something within it. change. The reverse is equally clear. “Recyclers and sorters talked to brands here and also learned a lot about the further production and sales process.”

3. SMEs can do it too, right?

During the SCIRT presentation at the Biarritz Good Fashion Closing Event, the audience asked: ‘how did you convince SMEs to participate in such a large project?’. This turned out to be a very valid question.

“The fact that brands such as Xandres, Bel&Bo and HNST are participating in such a time-intensive and complex project is a great result in itself. SCIRT has made it even more clear that the SMEs in this story can only implement innovations like this with financial and organizational support.”

4. Time for policy

In almost every conversation surrounding the challenges of the future, reference was made to the importance of a sound European policy. Fortunately, the Textile Strategy is picking up speed and we are looking forward to the concretization and implementation of, among other things, the ESPR (eco design), UPV (producer responsibility) and HRDD (due diligence).

“SCIRT was a challenging project, but we have learned a lot in recent years. We are currently working on our policy recommendations and hope to share our learning lessons with Europe and the wider industry.”

This is a contribution from Jasmien Wynants, sustainable fashion expert and co-founder of Machine. Jasmien helps the fashion industry become more sustainable through advice and guidance on circular and responsible entrepreneurship. She also gives workshops, training, talks and more on the subject.