Worn Again Technologies announces plans to build a new textile recycling demo plant

Worn Again Technologies is in the final planning stages of an innovative demonstration plant that will display its cutting-edge polymer processing technologies for textile recycling. The plant, which the business will build and run, will be built in Winterthur, Switzerland, and will have the potential to save 1’000 tonnes of textiles from being burned each year, opening the path for large-scale operations.

The demonstration factory for Worn Again Technologies will be built near Sulzer Chemtech, one of the startup’s technical partners, in Winterthur, Switzerland. This is a critical milestone in the company’s recycling process technology’s upscaling and commercialization.

Worn Again Technologies and its key partners have created a closed-loop chemical recycling system, which will benefit from the new industrial-scale infrastructure. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and cellulose are extracted from non-reusable, difficult-to-recycle textiles found in post-industrial and post-consumer trash. Additionally, unlike standard recycling processes, the Worn Again Technologies process cleanses the items by eliminating colors, pollutants, and impurities. As a result, it produces high-quality, virgin-like materials that may be reintroduced into supply chains and transformed into new fibers, textiles, and other goods.

Erik Koep, CEO at Worn Again Technologies, said that they’re pleased to be taking the next step in making dependable, high-performance textile recycling a reality. The development and operation of this demonstration facility are the next key steps toward realizing their textile circularity ambition. They anticipate commencing operations shortly and envision this factory as the first in a global network of processing facilities.

Torsten Wintergerste, Chairman of Worn Again Technologies, added that they’re happy to see their technology being utilized to establish a state-of-the-art textile recycling factory. Worn Again Technologies will have direct access to Sulzer Chemtech’s global R&D facilities as well as the Swiss textile sector by building it in Switzerland. They’ll create an ecosystem of partners around this showcase plant to accelerate the development of a textiles circular economy. Worn Again has chosen Switzerland as the optimal site to complete the demonstration plant with all stakeholders in the shortest time feasible.