Transforming textile recycling: Avery Dennison and TEXAID unveil innovative collaboration

Transforming textile recycling: Avery Dennison and TEXAID unveil innovative collaboration

  • Through piloting digital identification technologies, TEXAID aims to improve its textile sorting process with the potential for garments to be automatically directed to relevant resale or recycling streams.
  • Unique digital identifiers will address the data gap in waste apparel sorting.
  • Digital identifiers will be tracked via Avery Dennison’s atma.io connected product cloud platform, giving access to data that will pave the way for a more sustainable textile industry.
 

MENTOR, OH – June 28, 2023 — Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE:AVY), a global leader in materials science and digital identification solutions, today announced it has joined forces with TEXAID, a renowned European company specializing in the collection, sorting, repair, reselling and recycling of used textiles. The partnership aims to address the challenges of textile waste management ahead of incoming regulatory changes in the EU. 

A key aspect of this collaboration is the integration of cutting-edge technologies. As a provider of market-leading digital identification solutions for the apparel industry, Avery Dennison will work with TEXAID to explore how technology can enable traceability of garments through the sorting and recycling process. Digital identifiers, tracked via Avery Dennison’s atma.io connected product cloud platform, carrying vital fiber information, will aid TEXAID to process apparel into relevant resale or recycling streams. 

Europe generates a staggering seven million tons1 of textile waste each year, yet only 35% of this waste is separately collected, and less than 1% is recycled into new materials. Recognizing the urgent need for change, the European Union (EU) is aiming for a complete overhaul of the industry by 2030 under the Strategy for Sustainable Textiles2. New design requirements will ensure fashion items are longer-lasting, easier to repair and recycle, and free of hazardous substances.

An important aspect is the mandatory minimums for recycled content and the planned introduction of Digital Product Passports containing information about an item’s sustainability credentials. These will help EU regulators impose disclosure requirements and more accountability for what happens to clothes that can’t be sold or are no longer wanted.

Michael Colarossi, vice president, innovation, product line management, and sustainability, Apparel for Avery Dennison, said: "How do we turn textile waste into value at scale? The fashion industry needs answers and it needs action. This technology-driven approach will enable textile recycling, while also reducing processing time, driving down costs, and increasing capacity.” 

Martin Böschen, CEO of TEXAID, said: "Existing textile recycling facilities will be woefully inadequate if they remain small scale. We are showing today how technology can scale up processing so that we can generate the volumes of high-quality feedstock the industry is going to need."

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https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion

2 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12822-EU-strategy-for-sustainable-textiles_en



Media contact

Chloe Hodson or Megan Duncombe at The Think Tank
chloeh@thinktank.org.uk / megand@thinktank.org.uk


About Avery Dennison
Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE: AVY) is a global materials science and digital identification solutions company that provides branding and information labeling solutions, including pressure-sensitive materials, radio-frequency identification (RFID) inlays and tags, and a variety of converted products and solutions. The company designs and manufactures a wide range of labeling and functional materials that enhance branded packaging, carry or display information that connects the physical and the digital, and improve customers’ product performance. The company serves an array of industries worldwide, including home and personal care, apparel, e-commerce, logistics, food and grocery, pharmaceuticals and automotive. The company employs approximately 36,000 employees in more than 50 countries. Reported sales in 2022 were $9.0 billion. Learn more at www.averydennison.com.

About TEXAID
TEXAID is a circular service specialist for the fashion and textile industry. As market leader dedicated to sustainability, TEXAID is an experienced global solution provider in professional collecting, sorting, repair, reselling and recycling of textiles and footwear.

With nearly 50 years of experience, TEXAID processes more than 280M items (80.000 tons) annually. TEXAID’s operational presence spans Europe and North America, with more than 1,000 employees contributing daily to saving millions of textiles from landfill or incineration. TEXAID’s Unit Retail Solutions is designed to address the textile industry’s growing needs for sustainable end-of-use solutions and provides custom-made concepts to producers, distributors, brands and retailers in the textile industry to keep pre- and post-consumer textiles and footwear in the circle.
 

Media office
E-Mail pressestelle@texaid.ch
Phone +41 41 874 54 16

Contact
TEXAID Retail Solutions
Hinterbergstrasse 26
CH-6312 Steinhausen

retailsolutions@texaid.com
www.retailsolutions.texaid.com

 

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Various trademarks and trade names are used herein and are the property of their respective owners.