Circle-8 spearheads recycling in UK textile sector

Established to help enable the transition to a circular economy for textiles, Circle-8 is committed to the implementation of a full scale 50,000 tonne per year automated sorting and pre-processing facility to produce and supply feedstock to existing and emerging mechanical and chemical recycling processes. In line with its goal to introduce the UK’s first industrial scale fibre-to-fibre chemical recycling plant, the company is taking part in the two-year-long ACT UK initiative, Circle-8 said in a press release.

The project, announced by the secretary of state for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS), Lucy Frazer, as part of the Creative Industries Sector Vision, on June 14, will bring together and advance key technology components required to transition from manual sorting methods to automated systems. These include state-of-the-art optical scanning, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), pre-processing (buttons, zips, trim removal), and size reduction equipment—all under one roof. It will create a world-class blueprint that integrates the latest technologies and can be replicated across the UK.

With over 300,000 tonnes of non-rewearable textiles estimated to be generated annually in the country, ACT UK will establish an enabling solution to turn unwanted textiles into feedstock for fibre-to-fibre recycling methods. In effect, it will pave the way for a concrete, optimised approach that can meet high throughput and quality feedstock requirements for recyclers.

“What happens to our textiles when we no longer need them is a growing problem that we cannot ignore. With this ground-breaking project, we’re aiming to create a model to sort and prepare non-rewearable textiles for recycling in a way that’s never been done before, at scale. A national system of recycling plants could save 100,000s of tonnes of material from entering landfill. In turn, the system could generate huge volumes of material for use across the UK textile manufacturing sector,” said Adam Mansell, CEO of UKFT.

“The creation of a truly circular textile industry requires a comprehensive approach that evolves and reshapes the post-use textiles collection and sorting supply chain. Transitioning to regional, automated sorting facilities for non-rewearable textiles is an absolute must if we want to achieve reliable, high-volume, cost-effective material inputs for industrial scale fibre-to-fibre recycling plants. ACT UK offers precisely this, and we are thrilled to be part of this ground-breaking initiative,” said Cyndi Rhoades, CEO of Circle-8.

Besides ACT UK, Circle-8 and UKFT are also collaborating on the Digital Supply Chain Hub Testbed for Textiles project, funded by Digital Catapult’s Made Smarter Innovation programme. This aims to develop technical solutions to access and use cross-supply chain data, delivering key insights into the economics and values of post-consumer textiles suitable for recycling to retailers and others in the supply chain.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)