Textile technology advances aim to improve mechanical recycling quality

New technological developments are addressing the physical challenges of mechanical textile recycling, specifically regarding fiber degradation and quality classification.

Agatex Feinchemie has developed a series of chemical auxiliaries designed to mitigate the issues caused by the tearing process in mechanical recycling. This process typically acts as a bottleneck because the friction between fibers and metal shortens fiber length and increases dust production. Working with the Recycling Atelier at ITA Augsburg, Agatex validated these chemicals across the entire processing chain to ensure they maintain fiber length and reduce short fiber content, which determines the quality of the resulting recycled material.

Complementing these processing improvements, Uster Technologies has introduced the Recycled Fiber Matrix to better classify mechanically recycled cotton. Because recycled cotton is highly variable, Uster uses a two-dimensional approach based on AFIS 6 measurements. The matrix combines parameters such as mean fiber length, the longest 5% fiber length, and short fiber content to assign quality grades from A to D. This system is intended to help manufacturers make informed decisions regarding spinning methods and end-use applications for recycled fibers.