A polyester recycling plant which supplies raw material from garments back into the fashion and textiles industries has begun operations in Kettering. The joint venture between Salvation Army Trading Company and Project Plan B, known as Project Reclaim, is the first commercial-scale, post-consumer polyester recycling plant of its kind. Many garments and other textile products are not designed with ‘end of life’ in mind and most cannot be recycled, adding to the textile waste problem. Project Reclaim aims to open up opportunities for textiles to be designed for purpose, without any compromise to fashion, performance or the environment. As part of the venture, Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCoL) has set up the new technology at one of their processing centres. Tim Cross, Chief Executive of Project Plan B, said: “In the UK alone, 300,000 tonnes of textile items are discarded into household waste, including polyester. Up until now, polyester that had no useful life left would have been disposed of. “With this project, we can now save that waste and return it to supply chains. It’s a carbon saving, planet saving solution, and it plays a significant role in helping our collective journey to Net Zero.”
