Solving the challenge of multi-material garment recycling with thermal disassembly

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Recycling clothes is complicated. Making fabrics new again isn’t the only challenge – threads, zippers and buttons that hold them together also need dealing with. With Resortecs, Regeneration BV makes disassembly easy, so that more clothes can be recycled at higher quality and in less time. Typically, a garment sent for recycling needs to be manually taken apart, so that its recyclable fabric can be isolated. It is a technical and economic bottleneck that withholds the industry of becoming circular. Resortecs addresses this challenge with clever alternatives that automate disassembly: 1. Smart Stitch™, heat-dissolvable threads melting at high temperatures (150-200°C), separating the fabric from labels, zippers and buttons. 2. Smart Rivet™, heat-dismountable rivets allowing for jeans and other garments to be easily dismantled. 3. Smart Disassembly™, industrial-scale ovens in which large amounts of garments can be automatically heated, disassembled and sorted prior to recycling.