Danish company develops fully automated sorting system for post-consumer textiles

A major problem when recycling textile waste is the heterogeneity of the collected materials: different material mixes, fabric qualities and the condition of the used textiles make them a case for sorting by hand, which is time-consuming and labour-intensive.

Danish company NewRetex wants to remedy this situation and has developed a fully automated sorting system for post-consumer textile waste that sorts by material type, material composition, colour and structure using near-infrared (NIR) sensors, cameras and machine learning.

“Our sorting technology makes it possible to sort the large quantities of textile waste that all European countries are confronted with and to ensure recycling opportunities. In this way, clothing can become clothing again,” comments Betina Theilgaard Lauridsen, developer of circular products at NewRetex, in a press release.

The aim is not only to convert waste into valuable resources, but also to track them through integrated systems and record the data for all processed materials.

How does the fully automated sorting system work?

NewRetex receives, sorts and processes discarded textiles from municipalities, fashion brands, workwear companies, spinning mills and others. The automatic sorting system then sorts and documents the items according to material type, composition, colour and structure using a combination of near-infrared sensors and cameras.

“Thanks to the use of machine learning, the categorisation of textiles is flexible and can be adjusted individually depending on the recycling purpose,” explains the company.

The existing, expanded plant with a main sorting line has been in operation since October 2023 and has a capacity of 200 tonnes of textile waste per month, which is scalable depending on the input volume.

The company also succeeded in developing recycled fibres and yarns made from the post-consumer textiles sorted in the plant, which are suitable for the production of new garments.

In future, NewRetex plans to use 70 percent of the textile waste for new fibres, while the remaining 30 percent can be integrated into the open recycling loop or the production of synthetic gas.

What’s next?

By minimising waste and promoting the circular economy in textile recycling, the company aims to have a positive impact on the environment. In addition, NewRetex opens up new possibilities for textile recycling with its fully automated sorting system, which also fulfils the new regulations for used clothing collection in Europe. The company is now ready for potential partnerships and co-operations to licence and sell the system outside its own operations.