The accurate and highly automated sorting of waste garments has been identified as a major bottleneck in accelerating the recycling of textiles, with the Euratex-led ReHubs project, for example, calling for the establishment of between 150-250 dedicated new recycling centres to be established in Europe in the next few years – each with annual capacities of between 50-100,000 tons.

This makes the debut of Spain’s Wastex at ITMA 2023 in Milan timely – the new company has been formed to provide the physical and digital infrastructure for accurate garment sorting in textile recycling centres worldwide.

A joint venture between two Barcelona-based companies, Coleo, a textile manufacturing company specialising in recycled fibres, and Picvisa, a technology firm supplying sorting machines, Wastex has proven know-how throughout the value chain – from collecting and sorting textile waste to creating garments for the most exacting consumers and brands – and focuses on streamlining textile waste sorting for reuse, recycling and upcycling.

This is enabled by the cutting-edge Ecosort Textil system, which uses a combination of NIR (near-infrared) and RGB cameras, as well as AI technology, to efficiently sort textiles – with up to 24 separate outputs –and provide high-quality recycled yarn feedstock for the textile manufacturing industry.

Wastex offers various automated sorting solutions for different stages in the textile recycling process, such as removing contaminants, separating reusable textiles, categorising materials by composition and colour, and preparing materials for recycling.

Central to the Wastex strategy is the Coleo Network – a collaborative platform that enables partners to access guaranteed sales of recycled materials, assistance in creating inbound waste material flows, and support in establishing a strategic position within their region. Partners in the network also benefit from shared knowledge on the latest sorting, recycling and traceability technologies and best practices.

www.picvisa.com

www.coleo.es