RETEXCAT Llar: From Post-Consumer Textile Waste to New Yarns

The transition towards a more circular textile industry requires not only reducing textile waste, but also finding effective ways to transform it into new raw materials. Textile recycling can help reduce the use of virgin resources while creating new opportunities for more circular textile products.

At Intercot, we are participating in RETEXCAT Llar, a collaborative project focused on developing and industrializing textile-to-textile recycling solutions for home textile applications. The project explores how post-consumer textile waste can be recovered and transformed into new recycled fibers and yarns.

Understanding Textile Recycling

Textile recycling can involve different processes depending on the origin, composition and condition of the material. One of the main distinctions is between pre-consumer and post-consumer recycling.

Pre-consumer textile waste is generated during manufacturing, before a product reaches the consumer. Because this material is generally more homogeneous and its composition is known, it can be easier to sort and process. Intercot already has experience with pre-consumer recycled cotton fibers, including 100% recycled cotton yarns with GRS certification.

Post-consumer textile waste comes from products that have already been used and discarded, such as clothing and home textiles. Recycling it is more challenging because it can contain fibers, colors, finishes and levels of wear. Identifying and preparing the material appropriately is therefore an important part of the recycling process.

Both types of waste can be valuable sources of secondary raw materials, but post-consumer recycling represents an additional challenge for the textile industry.

Mechanical and Chemical Recycling

Mechanical recycling is one of the most established approaches to recovering textile fibers. Waste textiles are sorted and processed through operations such as cutting, tearing and fiber opening, transforming them back into a fibrous material that can be used to manufacture new products.

One of the challenges of mechanical recycling is that processing can shorten and weaken fibers. The characteristics of the recycled fiber therefore need to be considered when defining the composition and performance of the final yarn.

Another approach is chemical recycling, which breaks down textile materials into chemical components that can potentially be used to produce new fibers or polymers. This technology offers interesting possibilities for certain fiber types and blended materials, although its development and industrial maturity vary depending on the material and process.

Mechanical and chemical recycling are different approaches that can contribute to recovering textile materials and reducing dependence on virgin resources.

RETEXCAT Llar: Developing New Post-Consumer Yarns

RETEXCAT Llar focuses specifically on the challenge of incorporating post-consumer textile waste into new yarns for home textile applications.

Within the project, Intercot’s role focuses on adapting spinning processes and developing yarns containing post-consumer cotton. The aim is to define and test yarn that can incorporate recycled material while meeting the requirements of their intended applications.

The project plans to develop a new catalogue of yarns containing approximately 20–50% post-consumer textile material, depending on the application. Pilot production and quality testing are an essential part of the development process, helping to evaluate how the characteristics of the recycled fibers affect the resulting yarns. An important aspect of RETEXCAT Llar is that it goes beyond the development of a recycled yarn. The project seeks to connect different stages of the textile value chain, from the collection and preparation of post-consumer textiles to fiber recovery, yarn production and their use in new home textile products.

Towards a More Circular Textile Value Chain

Through RETEXCAT Llar, Intercot is applying its spinning expertise to giving post-consumer textile fibers a second life as part of new yarns.

The project represents a step towards a more circular and resource-efficient textile value chain, while exploring new opportunities for recycled fibers in home textile applications and helping to keep valuable textile materials in use for longer.

Source: European Commission (2023). Joint Research Centre (JRC). Techno-scientific assessment of the management options for used and waste textiles in the European Union. https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC134586

European Commission (2023). Sustainable and Circular Textiles Strategy. https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/textiles-strategy_en

European Environment Agency (EEA) (2024). Management of used and waste textiles in Europe’s circular economy. www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/management-of-used-and-waste-textiles-in-europes-circular-economy

RETEXCAT (2024). www.retex.cat/