Textile recycling: a consultation to structure the sector

Why launch a new consultation on the textile industry now?

Julien Rondot: Because we are collecting more and more textile materials, and more and more diverse. Before the extension of the furniture sector to include textile decorative items in 2023 and our approval for the toy sector, we only processed textiles from large furniture items, essentially mattress covers.

Laure Bisson: To fulfill our mission and meet the targets set by the French government for textile recycling, we have to work differently. Our first challenge was to work on the collection of items that include textiles, in particular small items made up mainly of textiles, which are fragile materials, more sensitive to moisture and soiling and, what's more, were often thrown away in household waste. This was the aim of the call for tenders we launched in 2024.

What are the specific challenges involved in recycling these textile products?

Laure Bisson: The main challenge is linked to the heterogeneity and complexity of products and materials: cotton, polyester, feather stuffing, fibers bound together, glued to foam, sewn... With, moreover, often "hard points" disrupting recycling: plastic eyes on stuffed animals, zippers on cushions, eyelets on curtains... We need to develop the sector at every stage: from oversorting, to separate materials, to their preparation (washing, sanitizing, fraying, shredding, etc.), right through to their recycling, material by material, via mechanical or chemical processes. We also need to find outlets for these new recycled materials, i.e. players interested in reincorporating them into their new products. At Ecomaison, we are particularly interested in developing recycling loops in our sectors. It's all up to us.

In concrete terms, what kind of projects would you like to see emerge, supported by what kind of players?

Julien Rondot: Whether you're a textile waste processor or recycler, alone or in a consortium, or a manufacturer looking to incorporate recycled materials, this call for tenders, backed by an innovation partnership, is very comprehensive and very open. As Laure pointed out, the challenge is to identify partners capable of receiving, preparing and recycling textile flows on an industrial scale and level of maturity. But we also want to support advanced projects, companies whose solutions are already at an advanced stage, on the verge of industrialization. And, as far as possible, to find synergies across the entire value chain, from collection - which is still in need of improvement - to downstream processing and the integration of materials into new products.

Are experiments already underway?

Laure Bisson: Thanks to previous calls for projects, many avenues have already been opened up, for example in the extraction of hard points, over-sorting of mattress materials, and mechanical recycling, notably for the manufacture of non-wovens - felts used as insulation materials for the building or automotive industries, or as padding. Tests are also being carried out on color sorting, to obtain homogeneously colored materials that can be more easily integrated by manufacturers, and on the chemical recycling of polyester, to generate a recycled raw material as an alternative to petro-sourced polyester. We also exchange a great deal with Refashion, the eco-organization in charge of the clothing, household linen and footwear sector, on our specific processes and expertise. Our ambition is to seize every opportunity to become suppliers of secondary raw materials, to move towards circularity and reduce the use of virgin raw materials. To achieve this, we now need to assess all the players and their innovative processes, from every angle: technical, economic and environmental. That's what this consultation is all about.