Europe's textile and clothing industry employs 1.3 million people and generates around 170 billion euros annually. Yet it produces 10.9 million tonnes of post-consumer textile waste each year, with less than one per cent currently recycled through closed-loop processes. "The textile industry is at a critical juncture," explains Dr Thomas Fehn, Coordinator of Autoloop at Fraunhofer Umsicht. "This project represents a paradigm shift from waste to resource, transforming discarded clothing into valuable raw materials for new garments."

Integrated Technologies

The project combines several innovations for recycling polyester-based textiles. Zoritex's AI-powered sorting system uses hyperspectral near-infrared technology to identify over 15 fibre types and blends. This automated approach could increase sorting throughput tenfold whilst reducing costs by 50 to 75 per cent. Aalto University's Ioncell process extracts cellulose fibres using ionic liquid solvents, achieving recycling rates of over 95 per cent without harmful chemicals. The ReSyn technology developed by Fraunhofer Umsicht and SKZ breaks down synthetic fibres into high-purity building blocks, working efficiently even with contaminated textiles.

For traceability, TLX's IntegriTex technology embeds invisible identifiers in fibres, enabling contactless detection and supply chain transparency. Texroad's cloud-based Data Hub ensures compliance with emerging regulations such as the Digital Product Passport.

European Collaboration

The consortium comprises 14 partners from seven countries. If successfully scaled, Autoloop could process 1.24 million tonnes of textile waste annually by 2050 and create over 130,000 green jobs across the EU. The project receives funding from the Horizon 2020 programme.