Introducing Fibersort, a post-consumer textile sorting machine looking to clean up the industry

A cutting edge machine looking to revolutionise textile to textile
recycling by automatically sorting large volumes of post-consumer garments
is now up and running in Wormerveer, just outside of Amsterdam.

The Fibersort machine, a Near Infrared (NIR) based technology, is
capable of sorting around 900kg of post-consumer textiles per hour in 45
different fractions based on their fibre composition and colour.
Fibersorted materials have been validated by project partners and are now
ready for the market.

The technology, which has been several years in the making, is part of a
wider Fibersort project funded by Interreg NWE and comprising a consortium
of companies including ,
as well as Valvan Baling Systems, ReShare, Procotex, Worn Again
Technologies and Smart Fibersorting.

The project looks to tackle the fashion and textile industry’s issue of
excessive waste. In North-West Europe alone, around 4,700 kilotonnes of
post-consumer textile waste are generated every year, according to Interreg
NWE. Only 30 percent of that is collected separately – the rest is thrown
into household waste.

The opportunities to scale the use of recycled textiles are becoming
increasingly acknowledged in the fashion and textile industry as the
notoriously wasteful sector attempts to clean itself up and meet growing
consumer demand for more sustainable products and services.

“There are clear opportunities to successfully integrate automated
sorting technologies and recycled post-consumer textiles across the value
chain. Over the past years, innovation has spurred across this sector of
the industry,” said Circle Economy. “However, several challenges remain to
ensure the long-term implementation of these technologies in relation to
financial and technical feasibility as well as the opportunities to scale.
Collectors, sorters, recyclers, manufacturers, brands and policymakers have
both opportunities and responsibilities to address these challenges.”