German textile mill Velener Textil GmbH has been awarded the Discover Natural Fibres Initiative (DNFI) in Natural Fibres Award for its Wecycled system which recycles unused cotton yarn collected from partner mills.
Waste is inevitable in any industrial process, and up to 30% of yarn used in weaving mills, knitting mills and confection processing remains unused, the firm says. Under its Wecycled system, Velener Textil collects spent cones from partner mills and separates the unused cotton yarn from the paper cone in sheltered workshops. As a result, the firm has two raw materials: the paper cones for paper recycling and cotton yarn for the Wecycled system.
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The company’s spinning machines then rotate the individual fibres into a single yarn, using only mechanical technology, meaning no chemicals or harmful substances are involved.
The Wecycled fibres are blended with raw cotton purchased from responsible suppliers and arranged on cones, before being delivered to Velener Textil partners.
CEO Ernst Grimmelt says the Wecycled system is as close as it gets to no-waste textile manufacturing, adding the closed-circuit principle contributes to sustainable textile manufacturing with a traceable process.
Representatives of Velener Textil will be officially recognised for their achievement at the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) annual conference 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya from 7-9 September.
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