From South-Western Finland’s textile project to national textile recycling
Tekstiili 2.0, a pilot project in end-of-life textile, studied in 2016, among other things, the quality and collection methods of end-life-textiles. During the pilot both cost- and resource efficient ways to utilize textiles, and business that would use recycled textile were searched for. Based on the findings, an aggregate project, Telaketju, is being created. Telaketju aims for a nationwide handling system for end-of-life textile.
91 000 kg’s of textiles were collected in Tekstiili 2.0 end-of-life textile pilot in 2016. The textiles were collected in the waste stations of Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto LSJH (the waste management company of South-Western Finland), in Siira – a waste collection vehicle, near stores in Skanssi and Naantali, and in numerous events. Experiences from the project and feedback from consumers influenced that the free of charge collection of textile in LSJH’s area of operation will continue in 2017. Valuable information about end-of-life textiles was also received from the project related theses made by students from the Turku University of Applied Sciences
Collected textiles were sorted in warehouses in Turku, Salo and Kaarina by Turun seudun TST ry (the organization of the unemployed of the Turku region), EkoKaarina (a recycling organization in Kaarina) and Salon alueen Työttömät ry (the organization of the unemployed of the Salo region). The instructions for sorting were updated during the year, based on which materials were deemed to be necessary to be separated. In the latest instruction the textiles were sorted into 11 fractions.
Out of the collected textiles 31 percent were utilized during 2016. Some of the materials went straight to consumers and companies for reuse, either as such or as materials for new products. Some of the materials were sent sorted to Dafecor for industrial use, for vintage businesses, and also a small fraction as an experiment for a European operator and as a material experiment for Pure Waste. A new business, Pumpa Design Oy also manufactures new products out of the sorted textiles.
400 people answered the consumer inquiry. Out of the answers a wish for textile collection bins near shopping centers, near goodwill collection bins, and near the daily commute was seen.
Tekstiili 2.0 was led by Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto and the Turku University of Applied Sciences in co-operation with the city of Turku, SITRA, Jätelaitosyhdistys and Ekokem
Telaketju combines co-operation and raw material
Telaketju, a textile sorting and utilization chain continues the work started by the end-of-life textile pilot. The aggregate project conducted in wide co-operation has a goal of creating a nationwide end-of-life textile handling system which will increase the textile recycling rate, is simple for the consumer, and will create new openings for the Finnish industry.
Funding is now being applied for two aggregate projects. Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto will coordinate the project related to the collection and sorting of textile, for which funding has been applied for from the ministry of environment. VTT will coordinate the project related to business and product development, for which funding is applied for from Tekes. With Telaketju Finland has a chance of becoming a pioneer of diverse textile recycling.
More information:
Project coordinator Sini Ilmonen
Mobile 040 867 0139, sini.ilmonen@lsjh.fi
Project manager Henna Knuutila
Mobile 040 355 0827, henna.knuutila@turkuamk.fi
The Tekes project related to Telaketju:
Project manager Pirjo Heikkilä
Mobile 040 689 1443, pirjo.heikkila@vtt.fi