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Circularity

About Circularity
The circular economy is juxtaposed with the linear economic model that currently dominates the global fashion industry. Instead of taking virgin resources, making new products, and then disposing the product at the end of its usefulness, the circular economy strives for an (idealised) closed system from which no waste ‘leaks’, and all materials that are put into the system, stay in the system. This can be achieved when all materials are either renewable or recycled, and every product is recyclable.

Circularity can be achieved by improving in three areas:
1. Designing sustainable products
If products are designed with circularity in mind, it facilitates reuse and recycling later on. Therefore, products should be designed to be made up of sustainable materials and so that it does not require harmful production processes.

2. Establishing systems and services to keep products and materials in use as long as possible
This could be new business models facilitating the reusing of clothes, repair services and recycling and upcycling ventures.

3. Regenerating the environment
The natural environment needs to be actively regenerated and improved.
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The Fiber Center is developing an innovative solution to fight the global waste crisis by recycling disposed textiles and thus enhancing circularity in the global fashion industry. The recycling initiative collect pre- and post-consumer textile waste for recycling in Bangladesh. Its long-term goal is to establish one part of the cycle and thus contribute to circularity in the global textile industry.

Several recycling projects are already under way. Nevertheless, the Fiber Innovation and Research Center will continue its research and testing to establish the optimal process and utilization of recycled textiles.

We believe in the fascinating possibilities of fiber innovation.

Fabric Recycling

The Fiber Center has developed an innovative recycling initiative to give institutional textiles a second life. Fabrics from hotels and airlines are especially suitable for recycling, as they are regularly discarded in great quantities and their material make-up and origin is known. This facilitates the sorting and recycling process. As the majority of institutional fabrics is white, there is no risk of potentially hazardous substances.

The fabric recycling initiative collects institutional fabrics, such as cotton bed linen from hotels or polyester blankets from aircraft. The fabrics are collected in Europe and shipped to Bangladesh. There, the items are sorted and repurposed as shopping bags. If the fabrics are made of 100% cotton, they can be dyed any colour. In case of a polyester-cotton blend, the fabric will remain white.

Fiber Recycling

Fabrics made of 100% cotton can be turned back into cotton fiber. With the fiber recycling initiative, the Fiber Center is realising circularity in the textile industry.

The Fiber Center is currently involved in different projects in Bangladesh and Pakistan where materials made of cotton and cotton/polyester blends are recycled into yarns for fabric production.

The resulting fibre is 16 – 22mm long. This relatively short staple length is more suitable for coarse yarns but can be mixed with virgin materials t o make finer fabrics. In general, the recycled material will make up 5-10% of the new fabric and will preferably be blended with BCI or organic cotton and/or recycled polyester. This way, there are various option to reach the Global Recycling Standard of 35% recycled content. However, more needs to be done to determine the optimal composition of yarns and finishing. A separate recycling standard tailored to the specific circumstances of the project will be developed to facilitate implementation.

The recycled yarns and fabrics can be used to manufacture a variety of consumer goods, such as bed linen, towels or denim. Denim is exceptionally suitable for recycled fibre, as short staples are used. Moreover, irregularities in the fabrics underline the individuality of the product and support its concept and style.