Too many discarded textiles end up in landfill or incineration. The SorTex project will increase the amount of textile waste that is collected and reused or recycled. The project's main focus areas are analysis and testing of collection and sorting methods, development of sustainable business models for textile waste, and development of strategy recommendations that can benefit municipalities and society at large.
In Denmark and Sweden, municipalities are responsible for collecting textile waste from citizens, but how is this done wisely? At SorTex, we test different collection methods and offer suggestions for best practice.
What is the best way to pre-sort municipal textile waste so that as much as possible can be reused and recycled? In SorTex, we research and test methods and the latest technologies and compile them in a practical handbook.
In SorTex, we investigate and test how textile waste can be recycled in circular business models so that it becomes a resource and business potential in the future - and not just a global challenge.
The consumption of textiles is one of the biggest climate and environmental burdens. Within the EU, around 7.5 megatons of textile waste is generated annually, of which around 360,000 tons in the Nordic region. On average, only 30-35% is collected. Some of this is sorted and recycled within the EU, but most of it has so far been exported to developing countries where it ends up in landfills or incinerated.
To curb this trend, the EU Waste Directive states that by 2025, Member States must separately collect textile waste. In Denmark and Sweden, municipalities will be responsible for collecting and handling this waste locally.
The purpose of SorTex is to investigate and find solutions on how municipalities collect the large amounts of textile waste and sort them efficiently so they can be reused, recycled and gain new value in new circular business models. The expected outcome of the Sortex project is a higher collection rate, increased pre-sorting capacity and quality, and a reduction of textile waste going to landfill or incineration.
SorTex brings together 13 partners in Denmark and Sweden in a partnership between public and private actors across the entire textile waste value chain - from collection to pre-sorting, reuse and recycling. The collaboration makes it possible to combine technologies and competencies across borders that are crucial to solving the international challenges posed by the large amount of textile waste in the world, which no one can solve alone.
The project is supported by funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the EU Interreg Øresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak program.
Herning Municipality, Bæredygtig Herning, Erhvervsrådet Herning & Ikast-Brande, NewRetex A/S and VIA University College.
Borås Energi Och Miljø AB, Cyclothe AB, Goteborg Municipality, Svenljunga Municipality, Sydskånes avfallsaktiebolag SYSAV, Trollhattan Energi Aktiebolag, Vanersborg Municipality and Wargon Innovation AB
The project period runs from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2027.