TEXTILES.ORG
Klopman, a European company in the production of workwear fabrics and with its headquarters in Italy, is promoting an innovative circular economy project that promises to revolutionize textiles at the end of their first lifecycle. The scheme aims to achieve significant energy savings and localize the supply chain in Europe, currently 85% dependent on non-European countries.
The innovative project starts with the French company Renaissance Textile, which is promoting a new production model in a short, sustainable circuit throughout Europe. Renaissance Textile, together with its partners, including Klopman and TDV Industries, the French textile counterpart belonging to the same group, aims to conclude an agreement with its clients to receive and recycle their clothes at the end of their first life cycle. This will allow the production of new fabrics, made with an increasing amount of recycled fiber, which can be put back on the market. A key part of the process is the advanced technology of the company’s 12,000 m2 industrial building in Laval, France, where garments are grouped, sorted, and then transformed into raw material ready to be trimmed and woven.
Several targets have been set for 2024, the most significant of which are an expansion to three fabric fraying lines and a target to recycle 3,000 to 9,000 tonnes of fabric (the equivalent of 10 to 30 million garments) by 2024. All this will translate into an estimated saving of 430,000 tonnes of CO2 by 2026, equivalent to the planting of about 57 million trees (source: Life Cycle Communication Tool: Scuola Sant’Anna di Pisa).
The aim is to produce a regenerated fabric with a premium fiber able to have the same life cycle of a virgin produced fabric. This is a fundamental step forward if we consider that in Europe at present only 1% of old clothes are regenerated and put back on the market as new and 85% are burned or dumped. Clothes at the end of their first life will be turned into an opportunity for environmental, economic, and social development.
#KlopmanCircular is the concept the company has developed to support the development of this and other projects that aim to protect our planet by recycling resources. Klopman’s main task is to ensure the supply of materials that can be transformed from leftovers into raw materials. In fact, the company is – in this first phase – engaging with its customers across Europe, large industrial laundries and then expanding its base.
“We are proud to be actively working with and supporting such an important project,” said Amaury Sartorius, Managing Director of Klopman. “This project has the enormous potential to make a real difference in our society by turning a problem into a huge opportunity. In the coming weeks our sales team will be working to reach out to those who have used clothes and textiles, so we can actively contribute to Renaissance Textile’s goals in the whole of Europe.”
Through the construction of this circular economic model, it will be possible to reduce reuse materials and at the same time to save fundamental resources such as water, reduce the weight of transport thanks to a mainly European supply chain and make energy savings in each country.
“To make a difference and make this project work,” continues Amaury, “we need support from the market to identify companies ready to invest with us recycling garments at the end of their first life, in order to allow Renaissance Textile to regenerate them. This is why we are asking all interested parties to join forces and build a synergy with the aim of truly revolutionizing the supply chain and bringing about an epoch-making change in the world.”