Telaketju, based in Finland, is a network promoting sustainable recycling of textiles. The project covers the value chain of a textile product, starting from product design. Its goal is to find out how clothes and other textiles can be made to last as long as possible and to adapt to changing tastes and needs of consumers. One solution may be a textile-as-a-service concept. Through the Telaketju project, Finland has created significant expertise in textile recycling as well as a wide network of cooperation. They will help in finding sustainable textile solutions in line with the recycling and circular economy goals of Finland and the EU.
Telaketju has established a value network that collaboratively enables the implementation of a chained production demo, in which end-of-life textiles collected from consumers are sorted and delivered to France for fiber extraction. The research partners and companies then use these to make their demo products, such as nonwoven fabrics, composites and acoustic panels.
The EU’s edict to require separate collection of textile waste by 2025 has made it necessary for Finland to build up its system for recycling of textiles. However, sorting technologies must also be developed to ensure sufficient volume and quality of material for industrial recycling processes.
