Industrial textile waste: another windfall for the circular economy!

While the subject of recycling unsold or used clothing receives a great deal of media coverage, that of industrial textile waste, on the other hand, is little known.

And yet, it deserves to be. Firstly, for regulatory reasons. As of January 1, 2025, the landfilling of skips containing more than 30% textile waste is no longer authorized. A rule that does not apply to leather.

Then, because this waste is not lacking in assets from a circular economy perspective. “We have complete control over their traceability. These are noble, new materials whose mechanical properties are superior to those of used garments, lists Clément Gourlaouen, in charge of recycling at Mode Grand Ouest (MGO). And what's very expensive about recycling are the first two stages: sorting and unraveling, i.e. removing hard points (buttons, fasteners...). But these are not necessary for industrial textile waste. So we start with a big competitive advantage over using used clothes for recycling".

2.4% of textile waste

According to an ADEME study conducted in September 2023, production offcuts account for 2.4% of textile waste in France, or around 40,000 tons annually.
An overall figure that needed to be broken down locally, judged Mode Grand Ouest, a professional network bringing together 120 members, mainly garment and leather goods makers but also some textiliens and suppliers to the industry. Pays de la Loire is the French region with the most garment makers. "Yet the clothing industry, with the cutting stage, is the industry that generates the most textile waste offcuts. Hence the relevance of taking action in the West", says Clément Gourlaouen.

Starting with a study. "We've started from the principle that we'll have trouble finding good ways of adding value if we don't know our deposits well," stresses the project manager. It's a prerequisite to have a global view of what's at stake, in order to be able to find relevant ways of valorization. However, in France, there is some national data, but none at local level".

Hence the collaborative project launched at the end of 2022 in the Grand Ouest region, starting with the creation of a map quantifying textile waste deposits, in collaboration with the Pays de la Loire and Brittany CCIs.

57 companies surveyed on their textile waste

57 companies, employing 4775 employees, the majority of them members of MGO, are thus surveyed, both on the quantity of their waste and its destinations. Garment manufacturers or similar, specialists in luxury or professional clothing, and a few ready-to-wear brands make up the majority, the others being leather companies (leather goods, saddlery, furnishings, etc). The sample is "large enough to be representative of the region and to have an initial study of the deposit's recognition, even if it can be refined later on" emphasizes Clément Gourlaouen.

The results are instructive. A few thousand tons of waste, both textiles and leather, are detected. They are mainly directed towards landfill (42% of respondents) or incineration/CSR (Combustible Solide de Récupération) (31.6%). The survey was carried out at a time when the landfilling of skips containing more than 30% textile waste was still authorized. Finally, a significant number (21%) of companies do not know precisely what happens to their waste...

Another element highlighted by the survey: the great heterogeneity of waste deposits. The waste of three quarters of respondents comprises several materials in a mixture, which vary widely, depending on collections, years, trends...

Finding recycling solutions

This more than justifies Mode Grand Ouest's objective: to take care of these deposits which, today"have no recycling solution, these industrial wastes being too small, too mixed or too fluctuating to be reused or of interest to a recycler". The structure then embarked on a second project, led by Mod'Innov, its Innovation Cluster. It began with a dozen companies (product development units, garment manufacturers, etc.) representative of the diversity of the deposits.

Fifty or so of their materials, mixed and representative of the diversity of the deposit, were selected for the project. MGO sends them to the European Center for Nonwovens (Cent), a branch of IFTH. Mission: to test the recycling of these wastes into nonwovens..."We had to overcome technical obstacles, as it wasn't really customary to make nonwovens with blends, explains Clément Gourlaouen. There were also materials that were too thick or too thin, such as lace, embroidery or laminated materials, which were deemed not to be recyclable. However, these tests showed that it was possible to do so".

These non-wovens obtained are then tested on several markets, for example those of thermal or acoustic insulation, ready-to-wear (puffer lining, for example) or accessories (tote bags, computer bags...).

Regulatory research essential

But this first phase leads to the need for a second phase, that of regulatory research. "It was a question of identifying possible outlets for recycled materials in the form of blends in non-wovens, the composition of which we don't know. In some sectors, such as the automotive or clothing industries, it is indeed difficult to use such materials. But that's not the case for acoustic insulation or travel accessories, for example".

Once this work was done, MGO moved on to phase three. That is, carrying out performance tests (for insulating properties, for example), of the non-woven materials developed. "As these tests will start at the end of 2023, it's still too early for any conclusions, confides Clément Gourlaouen.

Parallel to this, MGO continues to look for outlets and partners. "Our vocation is not to create a factory. Ideally, this work could be of use to an existing industrial company or to other project developers with a view to adding value to these recycled materials", stresses the manager.

Barriers to recycling

Partners who would be most welcome as Clément Gourlaouen does not shirk from the obstacles that complicate the ambitious work carried out by MGO. Starting with the fact that the trade organization does not benefit from the support of the eco-organization Refashion, which oversees the end-of-life of products in the clothing, household linen and footwear sector. "The latter only deals with materials put on the market. However, industrial production offcuts have the same outlets and the same recycling routes", laments the project manager.

And other pebbles are also lodged in the shoes of the project's initiators...
Of a legal nature in particular. In the west of France, where garment making is mainly for luxury goods, three quarters of textile waste belongs to the principals. "But while some luxury Home have their own waste collection circuit, this is not always the case. It's then up to the subcontractor to manage it, with the storage constraints that this poses". Another difficulty, particularly prevalent in the luxury goods sector, is the fact that materials are highly recognizable, especially when branded with logos.

Companies are certainly mobilized by the subject, as shown by the initial survey on their industrial waste, carried out by MGO among 57 of them. 94.8% wanted to know the results of the study, with 40.4% even volunteering to join a working group on the subject!

Insufficient recycling players

While interest is evident, on the waste producers' side, "recycling players in France are missing in action, and all the more so in the Greater West". An aggravating factor: those that do exist are hardly adapted to the specificities of industrial textile waste, with highly mixed materials...

Hence the importance for clothing manufacturers - who will not be able to use all their recycled offcuts and make a closed loop - Clément Gourlaouen is convinced, of "creating links with other sectors, such as the automotive or construction industries, which will be users of this recycled waste to be able to make large-scale projects".