Croatia: Recycling of Polyester Textile Waste
© PrivateVIS is an innovative and recognizable company with a tradition in producing textile ever since 1929. Since then, it has become a leading regional manufacturer of promotional parasols and technical textiles. The biggest competitive advantage VIS has is its in-house production of textile, consisting of yarn spinning, weaving, washing, whitening, printing, and coating - creating the known “VIS LONG LIFE fabrics”.
VIS decided to level up its production process and the final product, adding value to the overall process by textile recycling and producing a new recycled parasol.
© EEA grantsThe project ECO VIS is supported by the Norway Grants as part of the programme on Business Development and Innovation operated by Innovation Norway. The aim of the project is to create competitiveness for the company, create new jobs and reduce the carbon footprint.
There is a growing market demand for sustainable and recycled products, and this is also reflected in the HORECA market in which VIS operates - so there is a growing need and demand for recycled sun umbrellas and parasol fabrics, moreover, a supplier gets a better rating in the supplier database when offering a recycled product.
It is important to note that there is currently only one option on the market for plastic recycling, and that is by melting down existing plastic and re-spinning it into new polyester fiber.
The ECO VIS project focuses on the recycling of technical textiles in various ways that would allow the reuse of waste generated in the production cycle, but also offer the world a new way of polyester textile recycling.
The project goes beyond applicable EU standards and increases the level of environmental protection in the absence of EU standards, that aims to develop a "greener" way of recycling polyester textiles and allow the full recovery of waste generated in the production cycle by developing new products that ultimately form a fully recycled parasol.
The project acquires valuable equipment that will enable the construction of a recycling line in which polyester waste will be sorted according to defined criteria and, depending on its properties, directed for further processing for fiber reopening or thermoplastic treatment. Ultimately, we will get new recycled yarns, thermoplastic profiles, and granules that are widely used, giving VIS an extra level of competitiveness.
The project’s estimated results, with the placement of new products on the market, are an annual decrease of 1.022 tons in the consumption of synthetic yarn, reuse of all textile waste, an annual decrease of 1.000 tons of CO2 emissions, and creating 32 new green jobs.
© EEA grantsBusiness Development and Innovation Croatia
The project is supported by Norway through the Norway Grants. See more on the Business Development and Innovation Programme in Croatia.