Sporda’s airlay production line uses textile waste as raw materials
Sporda’s airlay production line uses textile waste as raw materials
New laws and systems are in the pipeline for textile recycling
According to OmVärlden, Sweden’s leading magazine on global issues, nine kilos of textile per person/year are thrown away in the EU. In order for clothes and textiles not to end up at rubbish tips (for incineration), the EU, in addition to producer responsibility, also requires all member states to legislate and introduce systems for textile recycling. And this is not so far off – everything must be in place by 2025. Is this news to you? Well, Sweden has been hesitant to decide.
Birgitta Losman, a researcher at the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås, was appointed by the Swedish government to examine the issue of producer responsibility. A proposal was presented in December 2020, and there was hope that the new legislation would come into effect as early as 2024, as Sweden really wants to be seen as a forerunner country. This is how Birgitta Losman puts it in an interview with OmVärlden: “Sweden has now lost the Yellow Jersey on this question, which is a real pity, as there is already a proposal, which is backed by industry, and which has also gained acceptance with non-profit organisations. Instead, we’ve ummed and ahhed over the study for 18 months now.”
Sporda Nonwoven first in Sweden with Airlay technology
When Sweden’s legislative bill for textile recycling is finally ready, so will all of us at Sporda Nonwoven be. With the help of the Swedish Consumer Agency’s Klimatklivet (Climate Leap) we have equipped our new facility in Värnamo with airlay technology. We are the first in Sweden with this process. Investing in this type of production line means that we can use textile waste as a raw material.
Sporda Nonwoven is participating in several different research and development projects focused on the Swedish environment. This includes the innovation project Circular Textile Innovations (CITEX), where BioInnovation aims, once and for all, to determine if it’s possible to set up a large-scale Swedish facility for the mechanical recycling of textiles. Because despite the growing demand for recycled textile, there is still no textile recycling facility at present.
Jonas Rylander, CEO of Sporda Nonwoven, is feeling optimistic about the potential arrival of a Swedish player for recycled textiles. In the article on BioInnovation’s website, he says:
“The investment has increased our need for textile waste. To work in a sustainable way, we want to buy the raw materials locally, but that’s not possible at present, so we have to import them instead. As I see it, we face two major challenges. Firstly, we need our own certification for recycled textiles. We can never with 100% certainty specify the product’s content, and the current legislation is an obstacle to producing more high-quality recycled products. Secondly, this type of recycling plant must be on a very large scale, and have customers in different segments of industry. As producers of nonwoven fabric, we buy and make good products from the cheaper fibres, but customers also needed to buy the more expensive fibres. We remain steadfast in our objective: to have a Swedish supplier of textile fibres within a few years. This project might help towards this.”
