Accelerating Circularity

Accelerating Circularity is an action-oriented nonprofit focused on textile-to-textile recycling systems at commercial scale through a collaborative, stakeholder-led approach. Our mission is to catalyze new circular supply chains and business models to turn used textiles into mainstream raw material.

How did the cooperation between Sympatex and you come about?

Sympatex was introduced to ACP by European Outdoor Group, one of our Steering Committee members, towards the end of 2021 to join our textile-to-textile trials work.

What was the joint output of the collaboration?

The collaboration is ongoing. Sympatex participates in system trials, launched in April 2022, that are still running. The Sympatex team has always been and continues to be very supportive, giving us a platform to share our work (e.g. panel at OutDoor by ISPO). The team is very knowledgeable and experienced. For our work to build circular systems of textile-to-textile recycling for polyester, we hold their expertise in high regard and we often turn to them for feedback.

What hurdles were there in the collaboration?

There are no hurdles in the collaboration. The process of developing feedstocks and turning them into chip from post-consumer textiles is taking longer than expected. Sympatex’s knowledge of the process and active participation has allowed there to be an understanding that some processes need to be repeated to be correct and this takes time.

What synergies have resulted from this?

Accelerating Circularity has found a great partner in Sympatex. We hope the collaboration will continue into future work.