GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PILOT
CONTEXT AND CHALLENGE
Post-consumer textile waste is a highly heterogeneous waste stream whose characteristics and management can vary considerably between regions. Spain, France and Portugal have different collection systems, available infrastructure, organisations involved, sorting models and existing textile waste streams.
The pilot takes these different starting points into account and examines how each country’s particular circumstances affect the waste that ultimately reaches a sorting plant. It therefore studies representative streams from all three countries, considering their origin and collection system as well as their form, quality, composition and prior preparation.
Based on this analysis, the pilot aims to establish whether waste from different contexts can be processed using a common sorting method based on composition and colour, producing fractions prepared for recycling.
An important requirement is that the material must first have been sorted for reuse, so that Coleo works specifically with the fraction unsuitable for reuse. This allows the pilot to focus on the next stage of waste management: characterisation and sorting for recycling.
The pilot therefore not only evaluates sorting technology but also compares the starting points and realities of post-consumer textile waste management across the SUDOE area, identifying differences, barriers and aspects that could be harmonised or improved.
PILOT OBJECTIVE
The objective is to analyse and compare how post-consumer textile waste is managed in Spain, France and Portugal, taking account of each country’s particular circumstances: collection systems, stakeholders, available infrastructure, prior sorting and the characteristics of the resulting waste streams.
Building on this analysis, the pilot aims to establish whether waste from different contexts can be processed using a common method for characterisation and sorting by composition and colour.
The ultimate aim is to generate comparable knowledge across the three countries, identify differences, barriers and good practices, and draw lessons that can help improve systems for preparing and sorting textile waste for recycling in the SUDOE area.
PROPOSED SOLUTION / INNOVATION
The pilot combines an analysis of the situation in each country with an industrial demonstration of post-consumer textile waste sorting.
First, it identifies and analyses the systems and stakeholders involved in textile waste management in Spain, France and Portugal, selecting representative waste streams from each country.
Second, this waste is transported to Coleo’s plant and processed using the same method. After non-textile items have been removed, the material is sorted using automated technology based on near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and machine vision, producing different fractions according to composition and colour.
Using a common method makes it possible to compare results and identify the extent to which differences between countries affect the characteristics of the waste arriving for sorting.
MAIN ACTIVITIES
EXPECTED RESULTS / IMPACT
The pilot will provide a comparative overview of post-consumer textile waste from Spain, France and Portugal and a better understanding of how different collection and management systems affect the characteristics of the material.
At a technical level, it will test the application of a common sorting method based on composition and colour to waste from different contexts.
At a regional level, the results will help identify differences, barriers and good practices across the three countries, as well as aspects of waste preparation and management that could be improved or harmonised.
The knowledge generated may serve as a reference for public authorities, waste managers and other textile value-chain stakeholders interested in developing systems for sorting textile waste for recycling.
