Switzerland is all set to have its first automated recycling centre for used clothing in 2026, located in St Margrethen. It’s a collaboration between textile collector Tell-Tex and Säntis Textiles, the developer of proprietary RCO100 mechanical fibre recycling technology.
Products will be industrially sorted by material and colour in the new textile recycling centre before being mechanically recycled.
Approximately 20,000 tonnes of clothes are being collected annually by Tell-Tex, which accounts for nearly one-third of all worn clothing collected in Switzerland. Approximately 8,000 tonnes, or 40 per cent of the collected textiles, are turned into filler material, backfill, or wipes.
The company envisions more business in the sorting of materials from establishments like hotels and hospitals as well as corporate clothing. Recycling garbage into secondary materials is thought to be the way to profitably maintain materials in a circular economy.