Markers for better Sorting towards Recycling

 

The project “Markers for better Sorting towards Recycling” aims to develop an industry-oriented concept for the coding of textiles using markers to enhance the identification, tracing and recyclability of textile products. This research approach is driven by the trends within the textile industry to create more sustainable products and the necessity of cost efficient products and production technologies.

Even if products are designed for recycling and composed of recyclable materials, it is difficult to distinguish recyclable from non-recyclable products during the recycling process. Thus, a new technology is necessary to enable an automatic identification of recyclable textiles.

Together with the project partners the Institute of Textile Technology (ITA) of RWTH Aachen University, the Belgian Textile Research Centre Centexbel and the Forschungskuratorium Textil e.V. from Berlin, an industry-oriented concept for the coding of textiles using different kinds of markers will be developed and recommendations for its implementations in the textile sector will be elaborated.

The project covers the complete product life cycle of textiles from the melt spinning of yarns over textile production and the coating thereof, as well as the identification and sorting of the marked textiles, to the re-use of the recovered material for new products.