Textile recycling: Igers opens an €8 million plant
The project, in the province of Novara, integrates various functions – including blockchain-based tracking – into a single hub, thanks to proprietary technology
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Igers, a company based in Trezzano sul Naviglio (Milan) and part of the Haiki+ group, has opened a textile waste recycling plant in San Pietro Mosezzo (Novara) with an authorised annual capacity of 19,000 tonnes.
The new plant brings together, within a single integrated and automated hub (comprising 56 interconnected machines and semi-automatic units that record data relating to the operations carried out on the blockchain), the sanitisation of incoming material in ozone chambers, fibre analysis and qualification, sorting, complete shredding and certified reporting, right through to the creation of pressed and traceable bales, which are then dispatched for subsequent use.
Most of it is used to produce non-woven materials (with applications in packaging, padding, construction, the automotive sector and furnishings), whilst the remainder is processed for spinning yarns for clothing and furnishings, as well as other industrial uses. The recovery rate for incoming textile waste exceeds 96 per cent. At the heart of the process is a proprietary technology, patented internationally.
The total investment amounts to approximately 8 million euros, of which 1.3 million is co-financed through the NRRP.
Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin also attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, emphasising the role of public funding: ‘When a project that has received funding from the NRRP is completed, it is always a significant milestone. We are thus moving on from the mere presentation of figures, which has characterised our work in recent years, to tangible results that we can see for ourselves. The circular economy will become increasingly strategic for the modernisation of the country and for the future sustainability of the economic system. Every step taken in this direction should be encouraged.”
