#Recycling / Circular Economy

2025-01-09

Reclaimed Cleaning Textiles acquires United-Southern Waste Material Company

RTCM Holdings, Inc. (dba Reclaimed Cleaning Textiles, dba World Wear Project), a family of textile recycling and distribution companies, today announced the purchase of United-Southern Waste Material Company (“USW”), a Dallas-based textile recycling and repurposing company. The transaction will establish the largest textile recycler in North Texas.

Founded in 1914, USW specializes in the recycling and repurposing of clothing and wiping rags, which are sold across global and domestic markets, respectively. The company has built a reputation as a highly respected organization in the space, expanding in recent years to collect its own credential, with over 120 bins. USW currently operates out of an 88,000 square foot facility. Co-owner and third-generation family member Mindi Levine Kahn will remain with the business to provide her expertise and ensure continuity throughout the integration.

“Our stated vision is to divert 100 million pounds of textiles from landfills on an annual basis as part of our commitment to make a difference in the world,” said Craig McAndrews, President and CEO of Reclaimed Cleaning Textiles. “USW’s operation will help us expand our capacity and drive essential long-term growth. Mindi and her family have been pioneers in the second-hand clothing industry, and we are excited to come together to create a best-in-class regional operation.”

“Reclaimed Cleaning Textiles has long been a leader in the recycled textiles space, with a focus on sustainable profitability,” said Mindi Levine Kahn. “This next chapter will offer customers, suppliers, and employees enhanced resources in an evolving market.”

Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP served as legal counsel for Reclaimed Cleaning Textiles, and Haynes and Boone, LLP served as legal counsel for USW. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Dedicated car seat model of SHIMA SEIKI’s P-CAM® R Cutting Machine unveiled

Leading Japanese textile solutions provider SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan, showed a special version of its P-CAM® R multi-ply computerized cutting machine dedicated to the production of car seats for the first time, at a private exhibition held over two days on Thursday, July 2nd and Friday, July 3rd at the Kariya City Industrial Promotion Center in Aichi Prefecture.

ALADIN paves the way for circular and demand-driven textile production in Europe

Textile production can be organized sustainably by utilizing short supply chains and preventing overproduction. This can already be achieved today by intelligently connecting and efficiently utilizing existing infrastructure. At the same time, production becomes circular when innovative technologies and materials are used that enable high-quality recycling. The ALADIN research project, launched in May 2026 and co-funded with five million euros under the EU Horizon Europe program, is creating the conditions for this.

Katharina Obergruber appointed to the Management Board of Sandler AG

The Supervisory Board of Sandler AG has appointed Katharina Obergruber to the company’s Management Board. Effective September 1, 2026, the Board will consist of Philipp Ebbinghaus (CEO), Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck (currently CCO, future COO), and Katharina Obergruber (CCO). Katharina Obergruber, currently Chief Sales Officer Hygiene and member of the Management Team of Sandler AG, will assume responsibility for all sales activities as Chief Commercial Officer. She will assume this role from Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck, who will focus primarily on production and supply chain topics.

Ence and ShareTex begin initial testing of the ATENEA innovation project to promote textile recycling in Spain

Ence and ShareTex are making progress on the Atenea R&D project, which aims to develop a complete value chain for textile recycling in Spain. Specifically, the goal of the ATENEA project—which is funded by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI)—is to connect all the necessary stages for the recovery of textile waste, from collection and management, through recycling and transformation into new raw materials, to their incorporation into new textile products.

DePoly Inaugurates its Showcase Plant in Monthey Switzerland

What if used plastic bottles, PET packaging material and polyester textiles could become raw materials just as high performing as virgin resources? That is the ambition of DePoly, a circular materials company based in Sion, Switzerland which inaugurated its Showcase Plant in Monthey on July 6th & 7th. The first depolymerization facility of its kind and scale in Switzerland, this industrial Showcase Plant represents a major milestone in the company's growth and its journey toward commercialization.

Commission clarifies rules on plastic bottles recycling

The European Commission today adopted new rules on recycling of single-use plastic beverage bottles made primarily of polyethylene terephthalate (PET bottles). These rules establish, for the first time, a methodology to calculate, verify and report chemically recycled content. This is part of the Commission’s December 2025 plastics package.

Geotextiles made from recycled materials: GREEN leads the way into the industry

For the industry, recycled materials are creating new opportunities in geotextile production. In the GREEN project, the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE demonstrates that recycled polypro-pylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and high-density polyeth-ylene (HDPE) can be processed into nonwovens, fibers, and membranes that meet industrial requirements. This creates opportunities for use in existing production lines and new value chains in the geotextile market.

DyStar releases FY2025 sustainability report, marking a new milestone towards its 2030 targets

DyStar, a leading specialty chemicals company with more than a century of expertise in product development and innovation, today announced the release of its FY2025 Sustainability Report, marking a significant milestone in its sustainability journey and reinforcing its commitment to long-term value creation.

TERIS reaches milestone: Fraunhofer consortium develops new standards for tire analysis

In the “TERIS” project, the Fraunhofer institutes ICT, IGD, and IWM—led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF—have reached a decisive milestone. For the first time, the teams aim to generate, analyse, and predict tire wear in the laboratory in a standardized and practical manner. As part of this milestone, results are now available on reference abrasion, particle analysis, tribological models, AI-based surface analysis, a test bench concept, and methods for accelerated aging and VOC detection. The tire industry, testing services, and environmental agencies will in future benefit from reliable, rapid laboratory procedures for emissions assessment.