The line was purchased from Danish technology company NewRetex.
Its purchase was part-funded by the Automatic-Sorting for Circularity and Textiles (ACT UK) project – which is supported by Innovate UK.
Cyndi Rhoades, co-founder and CEO of Circle-8 Textile Ecosystems, said: “We are extremely impressed by the approach NewRetex has taken with the development of this automated textiles sorting line.
“It will enable a significant advance in the transition from manual to automated sorting of non-reusable textiles, laying the groundwork to support the scale up of fibre-to-fibre recycling plants for textiles and other recycling processes in the UK.”
The line has the ability to sort via material composition, colour and the presence of hard parts such as buttons and zippers.
It also features software which is able to collect data including weight and fibre composition for each piece.
The data will allow materials to be tracked from pre-sorters through the ATSP and onto recyclers. Circle-8 hopes it will inform a future Digital Product Passport system.
Alan Wheeler, CEO of the UK’s Textile Recycling Association (TRA), said: “Circle-8’s investment marks a significant step forward.
“With automated fibre classification, colour sorting, and hardware detection (e.g. buttons and zippers), this new system will enable more efficient and accurate sorting.
“This will reduce processing costs, increase the value of recovered materials, and unlock access to emerging chemical and mechanical recycling markets.
“With the right policy support – including extended producer responsibility, better product standards, and mandatory minimum recycled content – the UK has a real opportunity to reclaim its leadership in circular textiles and create high-value, green jobs.”
The current UK collection system primarily targets higher-value clothing for reuse.
It is estimated that the UK generates over 700,000 tonnes of non-reusable textiles every year and that less than 1% is recycled into new textile materials.
The manual sorting of this kind of material by fibre-type tends to be slow and costly.
The ACT UK funding went towards designing a 25,000 tonne per annum Automated Textile Sorting & Pre-processing plant (ATSP).
Circle-8 was the largest grant recipient from the project and plans to build a network of ATSPs which will provide a feedstock for high volume textile recyclers.
Rikke Bech, CEO and co-founder of NewRetex Textile Sorting and Recycling, said: “We are delighted to be working with Circle-8 to expand our innovative sorting and traceability technologies beyond Denmark.
“We see big potential in the company and its plans for the UK, and we are excited to be part of scaling textile sorting for recycling in Europe.”
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