Three years ago I wrote an article about a dissolvable yarn that makes disassembly possible. At that time the yarn was a prototype and not yet for sale on the open market. But now, three years later Groenendijk Bedrijfskleding made safety vests with this yarn. Sander Jongerius, CSR manager of Groenendijk Bedrijfskleding tells about their development process.
| Around six years ago when I worked at KICI (now Sympany) I was doing research on how we can recycle clothing. The biggest problems we faced were the disassembly of double stitched fabrics, zippers, buttons etc. Then I came across a research in the UK performed by C-Tech innovation who developed a yarn that was losing its strength when put in a microwave. They did the research together with the Royal Mail that time and was still in development. Because I was not working at a clothing brand/producer and the yarn was still in development we were not able to proceed. |  Sander Jongerius, CSR manager Groenendijk Bedrijfskleding |
The development
When I started working at Groenendijk in 2015, we faced the same disassembly problems including reflective striping. The Wear2 yarn popped up in my mind again hoping it was fully developed and ready to use. Unfortunately the project stopped due to different reasons and we could not buy this yarn ourselves. But Marien Groenendijk (owner of Groenendijk Bedrijfskleding) and I saw this as an opportunity as well. We went to the UK and discussed with C-Tech how we could further develop the yarn. We invested money, time and effort and started to improve the yarn so we could use it for production.
The quality
The yarn will be used for multiple items, softshells, trousers, safety jackets etc. For us it was really important that the yarn had the same quality as our normal yarn. Lose of quality of our product was not an option. We teamed up with producers and with our own atelier to test the yarn extensively and gave feedback to C-tech. They improved the yarn multiple times. Now we have different qualities and colours.
Logistics
Logistics are key for a circular economy, at Groenendijk we already work with return logistics for a long time. We offered this to customers so valuable materials were not lost. Far before I worked at Groenendijk and before the Circular economy became a topic.
We take back the clothing actively, there are various systems possible depending on the needs of the customer, we have a collection box that can be placed at the company or bags to return the items via mail. Now we can add an extra dimension and dissemble the different materials that are used for clothing.
When I started working at Groenendijk in 2015, we faced the same disassembly problems including reflective striping. The Wear2 yarn popped up in my mind again hoping it was fully developed and ready to use. Unfortunately the project stopped due to different reasons and we could not buy this yarn ourselves. But Marien Groenendijk (owner of Groenendijk Bedrijfskleding) and I saw this as an opportunity as well. We went to the UK and discussed with C-Tech how we could further develop the yarn. We invested money, time and effort and started to improve the yarn so we could use it for production.
The quality
The yarn will be used for multiple items, softshells, trousers, safety jackets etc. For us it was really important that the yarn had the same quality as our normal yarn. Lose of quality of our product was not an option. We teamed up with producers and with our own atelier to test the yarn extensively and gave feedback to C-tech. They improved the yarn multiple times. Now we have different qualities and colours.
Logistics
Logistics are key for a circular economy, at Groenendijk we already work with return logistics for a long time. We offered this to customers so valuable materials were not lost. Far before I worked at Groenendijk and before the Circular economy became a topic.
We take back the clothing actively, there are various systems possible depending on the needs of the customer, we have a collection box that can be placed at the company or bags to return the items via mail. Now we can add an extra dimension and dissemble the different materials that are used for clothing.
 | The disassembly process The yarn loses it strength when it comes in contact with microwaves (not the heat). We ordered a big microwave that will be in our facility. The clothes go into this microwave and after the process we sort all materials and send them to recycle factories. Each type of material will go to a different recycle factory. |
We advise everyone to first test the fabrics on their recyclability before claiming that it is possible. We discovered that not all polyester fabrics can be recycled due to additives in the fabrics.
Test the recyclability up front
When we design a new product, the polyester is tested for recyclability before we use it, so we are sure it can be recycled into new raw material. We discovered that not all polyester fabrics can be recycled due to additives in the fabrics. We advise everyone to first test the fabrics on their recyclability before claiming that it is possible. Besides polyester we also have 100% wool and cotton recycle options. We are still looking how and where we can recycle the reflective striping. This is a difficult material. If it stays on the clothing nobody wants to reuse these items.
Collaborations
We understand we need an economy of scale in order to make recycling work. We also need to earn our investments back, therefore we have the rights on this machine for the BeNeLux. Our facility will be a promotion for other European companies and we are happy to start collaborations with non-workwear companies and workwear brands.
When we design a new product, the polyester is tested for recyclability before we use it, so we are sure it can be recycled into new raw material. We discovered that not all polyester fabrics can be recycled due to additives in the fabrics. We advise everyone to first test the fabrics on their recyclability before claiming that it is possible. Besides polyester we also have 100% wool and cotton recycle options. We are still looking how and where we can recycle the reflective striping. This is a difficult material. If it stays on the clothing nobody wants to reuse these items.
Collaborations
We understand we need an economy of scale in order to make recycling work. We also need to earn our investments back, therefore we have the rights on this machine for the BeNeLux. Our facility will be a promotion for other European companies and we are happy to start collaborations with non-workwear companies and workwear brands.
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