“Green Deal” at Expoprotection Paris 2018: Collaboration between industrial partnership wear2wear and France’s recycling project FRIVEP
French companies and government agencies will in future feed tons of used protective workwear back into the textile loop of European upcycling consortium wear2wear for value-retaining reutilisation of polyester fabric.
Munich / Paris, 5 November 2018 – At the Expoprotection Paris (6 - 8 November), wear2wear will present its next decisive move towards establishing closed-loop textile recycling across national European boundaries and economies: through intermediary Sympatex – a member of both partnerships – the European textile partnership (which introduced its first upcycling project at the A+A 2017 in Dusseldorf last autumn) will in future collaborate with an association comprising the French government, industry and agencies on the “Green Deal”. Specifically, the parties will join forces in developing far-reaching synergies between wear2wear and FRIVEP (Filière pour le Réemploi et Recyclage des Vêtements Professionnels) in order to bring used polyester fabric back into circulation in a way that ensures value retention.
During the initial 15-month pilot phase, the French mail service, the French rail company (SNCF), the City of Paris and the national police, will collect more than 20 tons of clothing. The aim is to reuse most of the textile raw materials in the functional clothing sector.
The findings from this will also be fed back into new tender specifications to facilitate the recycling process, aiming for a homogenous material composition wherever possible in future, starting as early as the clothing design stage. As a number of successful government projects in the past have shown, combining materials with the recyclable, PFC-free and PTFE-free Sympatex membrane made of pure polyether/ester allows the upcycled polyester fabric to subsequently be laminated again, thereby producing single-variety functional textiles that in turn are recyclable.
“The collaboration between wear2wear and FRIVEP is another crucial step for us towards our declared objective, namely to close the textile loop”, explains Dr. Rüdiger Fox, CEO Sympatex Technologies. Central to this strategy is the provision of completely non-toxic, recycled functional textiles that can be recycled again. “The fact that industry and government bodies are now working closely together, means that we are already in a position – a mere 12 months after our first flagship project – to start our first large-scale pilot project, where we can show that closed-loop textile recycling is already possible today. So, our decision to establish wear2wear as an open platform has started to bear fruit – because only by working together can we overcome the hurdles associated with shifting from a linear to a circular clothing industry throughout the sector”, adds Fox.
Trade visitors at the Expoprotection can find out more about the Sympatex sustainable product range and the collaborative project between wear2wear and FRIVEP at the Sympatex stand (No. K98). They are also welcome to participate in a press conference on FRIVEP that will take place on 8 November from 10:45 to 11:30 in the conference centre (Room 3). An overview of all FRIVEP project partners can be found in the annex to this press release. The information is also available in the Sympatex press section at: https://www.sympatex.com/en/information/145/press
PR Contact:
Sympatex Technologies GmbH
Sonja Zajontz
Feringastraße 7A
85774 Unterföhring
Germany
Mail: sonja.zajontz@sympatex.com
Tel. : +49 (0)89 940058 300
About wear2wear
wear2wear is an innovative industrial partnership dedicated to high-quality clothing that is sustainable at the same time. Five competent partners (Heinrich Glaeser Nachfolger GmbH, Märkischen Faser GmbH, Schoeller Textil AG, Sympatex Technologies GmbH and DutchSpirit) in Europe have joined forces to cover the entire recycling circle. Cutting-edge production systems will in future be used to turn textile fibres from used clothing into new functional fabrics.
About Sympatex
Guaranteed Green – The Sympatex climate-neutral and recyclable membrane
As one of the worldwide leading producers, Sympatex® Technologies has been a synonym for high-tech functional materials in clothing, footwear, accessories and technical fields of application since 1986. Together with selected partners, Sympatex develops, produces and distributes membranes, laminates and functional textiles as well as finished products worldwide. The Sympatex membrane is highly breathable, 100% wind- and waterproof and regulates the climate. It is 100% recyclable, bluesign® certified, and it received the 'Öko-Tex-Standard 100' certificate. It is also PTFE-free and PFC-free. The technologies and procedures are based on the principles of ecological responsibility and sustainability with a special focus on the optimal carbon footprint. Sympatex is represented worldwide with sales offices and branches. www.sympatex.com
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