UKFT leads £4m waste textile sorting project
15/06/2023
The Autosort for Circular Textiles Demonstrator (ACT UK) will support the transition from the manual sorting of clothes and textiles to highly-automated sorting and pre-processing, which can then be used as feedstock for recycling processes.
ACT UK brings together a consortium of recycling technologies, textile collectors/sorters, academia, manufacturers, industry associations, technologists and brands/retailers. It has been supported with funding from the Circular Fashion Programme supported by Innovate UK, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), all part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
With close involvement of Circle-8 Textile Ecosystems, the project partners are IBM, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Pangaia, New Look, Reskinned, Salvation Army, Oxfam, Textile Recycling International, Shred Station, Worn Again Technologies, English Fine Cottons, Alex Begg, Camira, Manufacturing Technology Centre, University of Leeds, University of Huddersfield, Textile Recycling Association and WRAP.
Harriet Lamb, CEO WRAP, said “An automated sorting and pre-processing plant for non-rewearable textiles will bring us a step closer to commercialised fibre-to-fibre recycling in the UK, and a step away from our reliance on virgin raw materials. Textiles is fourth behind housing, transport, and food in terms of the environmental damage it causes, and this important consortium will help lighten the footprint left by our clothes. We are excited to work with UKFT, Innovate UK and members of our Textiles 2030 voluntary agreement in supporting this bold endeavour which will bring us closer to a much needed circular economy for textiles.”
UKFT is also co-chairing a new circular fashion programme in partnership with the British Fashion Council (BFC), which will support and guide the creation of a circular fashion ecosystem in the UK.
The programme has six main areas of focus:
• Recycling infrastructure
• Sustainable manufacturing
• Circular business models
• Novel technology
• Diverse and future-proof workforce
• Green growth
UKFT’s main areas of activity will focus on recycling infrastructure and sustainable manufacturing, and will be complemented and supported by a number of practical innovation and research projects to boost the competitiveness of the UK fashion and textile industry.
Adam Mansell, CEO of UKFT, said: “What happens to our textiles when we no longer need them is a growing problem that we cannot ignore. We’re aiming to create a model to sort and prepare NRT for recycling in a way that’s never been done before, at scale. A national system of recycling plants could save 100,000s of tonnes of material from entering landfill. In turn, the system could generate huge volumes of material for use across the UK textile manufacturing sector.”
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