Co-founded by the fabric manufacturer Les Tissages de Charlieu and the clothing collection specialist Synergies TLC, Nouvelles Fibers Textiles has an automated line for sorting end-of-life textile pieces, by color and composition. Antoine Saint-Pierre, associate director of Tissages de Charlieu, presents to French Touch the challenges of the start-up and more generally of textile recycling.

“We are able to recover products at the end of their life to recycle them and reintegrate them into the customer’s future production”, presents Antoine Saint-Pierre, associate director of Charlieu weavings, about the sorting plant New Textile Fibers.

Created in 1902, the Loire producer of creative and technical fabrics Les Tissages de Charlieu co-founded with the clothing collection specialist TLC synergies an automated line for sorting end-of-life clothing, both by color and composition, called New Textile Fibers. Based in Amplepuis (Rhône-Alpes) and in operation since January 2024, the pilot plant directs textile waste towards chemical, mechanical or thermomechanical recycling sectors, to revalue them into raw materials in standard production circuits. “By qualifying this waste, we give it a value while knowing which recycling channel to direct it towards”, points out Antoine Saint-Pierre.

For the director, this platform “unique in the world brings novelty to the circular textile economy in France and around the world, and makes France a pioneering country in textile recycling. »

Nouvelles Fibers Textiles plans to manage 100 tonnes of textile waste within 000 years

If the processing capacity of this pilot plant is limited to 500 tonnes of waste per year, Nouvelles Fibers Textiles aims to launch a second automated line with an industrial capacity of 2025 in 30. “The objective is to manage 100 tonnes within 000 years, which could create up to 5 jobs in the region and a reduction in the French textile carbon footprint by 100%! » declares Antoine Saint-Pierre.

25% of end-of-life textiles are collected, sorted and recycled each year in France

According to the associate director, between 800 and one million tonnes of textiles are consumed per year in France, tonnes which are unused and stored at home, thrown away, burned or, at best, collected. “Today, around 25% of our end-of-life textiles are collected, manually sorted and recycled, the vast majority of which are sent and resold in Africa, India and Pakistan”, explains Antoine Saint-Pierre. The ambition of New Textile Fibers is to “represent around 20% of the collection and recycling of textiles in France in the next 3 or 4 years. »
Manual sorting makes it possible to remove disruptive materials during recycling, such as metal parts left in pockets, zips, buttons, etc. “There will be no automated sorting without good manual sorting, operated by players in the social economy and united. The two activities are linked and complementary,” warns Antoine Saint-Pierre.

Cotton, polycotton and polyester are sorted by Nouvelles Fibers Textiles

“For the moment our factory sorts cotton, polycotton (canvas made of a mixture of cotton and polyester, editor's note) and polyester, which is the vast majority of what we consume and find in the collection”, explains Antoine Saint-Pierre. New Textile Fibers sorting machines do not detect all materials, but work on them. “We are also in the development phase to refine the composition percentage”, adds the manager.

For Antoine Saint-Pierre, it is possible to recover almost 100% of a cotton garment. The interest of Nouvelles Fibers Textiles is to direct this material according to its constitution. “We will use quality cotton to remake a textile, while the least qualitative will go into building insulation, for automobiles, or will undergo cellulosic chemical recycling” (isolate cellulose to recover it in the form of cellulose pulp, used to make new artificial cellulose fibers, editor's note).

Ready-to-wear, work clothes… varied customers and suppliers

“Our recycled materials are as strong as the original ones! » insists Antoine Saint-Pierre. Nouvelles Fibres Textiles is able to recover its own textile waste but also that of its customers to revalue them, whether for their production or for its own. The start-up works with various brands, recycling ready-to-wear clothing such as work uniforms.

“The SNCF Group entrusted us with its end-of-life professional clothing, which we recycled, then transformed into recycled textile materials. » For Nouvelles Fibres Textiles, sourcing from its customers allows it to study with them the reuse of directly collected textiles, whether for the same use or not. The young company also offers revaluation in the form of packaging which has met with significant success. “There is not a single piece of textile waste that is not reused”, proudly concludes the entrepreneur.