Textile collector and sorter
Every year we collect 16 million kilos of discarded textiles through our 1,500 textile containers in 70 municipalities. We also receive donations from retailers and clothing brands.
This textile is sorted in our centers in Assen, Utrecht, and Eindhoven.
Our focus is on sustainability and preserving as many resources as possible. Therefore, we aim for as much reuse of textiles as possible.
Sympany is a foundation. The money we earn from our activities is invested in external and internal projects that contribute to the circular textile chain.
Website: www.sympany.nl
For our reuse rate: 74%!!
Of all the clothing we collect and sort, we manage to reuse three-quarters; this goes to second-hand shops in the Netherlands and abroad.
This is the most sustainable way to deal with textiles. The rest of the textiles follows the recycling route and is made into items such as insulation material, cleaning cloths, or new yarns.
With robots and AI, Sympany will sort clothing better and more efficiently.
In the coming years, the amount of collected textiles will increase significantly. Moreover, Sympany needs to process that textile more efficiently so that the recycling portion becomes competitive with new yarns.
Automation is the only way forward, and with this JTF grant, we can make the substantial investments needed to contribute to the new circular economy.
