BekaertDeslee has joined forces with Resortecs, a company that specializes in design-for-disassembly technology. The partnership will offer a solution for cover recycling, reducing waste and promoting sustainability.
“We are in full acceleration of developing circular solutions for the bedding industry,” said Frederic Beucher, CEO at Waregem, Belgium-based BekaertDeslee. “We take a holistic and comprehensive approach to make the full circularity process work.
“By using Smart Stitch of Resortecs, we can separate complex products in pure and thus higher quality waste streams,” he continued. “This promotes design flexibility and creativity, while not compromising recycling options.”
Today, less than 1% of textiles are effectively recycled. When a finished product is comprised of multiple components, recycling becomes more challenging. The fabric may be single material, but other components, such as labels, prevent it from being recyclable. This is the case for mattresses and especially for textile covers. Mixed materials end up being incinerated, which causes a high carbon emission.
The partnership between BekaertDeslee and Resortecs will offer a cost-efficient solution that allows the sorting of recyclable materials, reduces waste and lowers each other’s carbon footprint.
With Resortecs’ Smart Stitch heat-dissolvable threads, the two companies will bring to the market the first multi-material covers designed for industrial-scale disassembly and recycling. The cover parts are sewn together during confection with Smart Stitch, and at end-of-life, they can be disassembled using Resortecs’ low-emission Smart Disassembly systems.
This method makes it possible to separate the mixed and mono materials in different recycling streams. As a result, more fabrics can be recycled, avoiding incineration, and lowering the carbon footprint.
“Resortecs is thrilled to work with BekaertDeslee,” said Cedric Vanhoeck, CEO at Resortecs, based in Brussels, Belgium. “We’ve always wanted to take our designfor-disassembly technology beyond the fashion universe, but we knew that we could only do so with a global industry leader that shares our commitment to innovation and circularity. The Resortecs and BekaertDeslee teams have worked hard to bring Smart Stitch to the sleep industry. We cannot wait to see the first mattress covers designed for recycling landing on the market.”
