#Recycling / Circular Economy

2021-07-01

What is recycled wool and why is it so beneficial for the environment?

In addition to being 100% biodegradable, wool creates further environmental value by being easily reusable and recyclable. Woollen products have an exceptionally long lifespan, meaning that they can often be passed from one generation to the next. However, their stories don’t need to end there. The fibres in woollen garments and furnishings can be mechanically recycled and used to make new products.

What Is Recycled Wool and Why Is It So Beneficial for the Environment?

Many leading textile brands – Marzotto being one example – use recycled wool fibres to produce their high quality garments. The International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) examines the practice of recycling wool and explains why it is so beneficial for the environment, producers and end users.

The History of Recycled Wool

Recycling practices are a relatively recent development for most industries. This is not the case for woollen textiles, however. There is a long history in European textiles, going back hundreds of years, of reusing wool fibres to make new garments. Old garments find their way to businesses who have the capacity to reduce them to their constituent fibres and then turn them back into yarn, ready to be knitted into brand new products.

From the early 19th Century, demand for wool has always exceeded supply, making it necessary to recycle existing fibres in an effort to close the gap. Today, with sustainability and conservation being so important to firms and consumers alike, the well-established practice of wool recycling lends itself well to eco-friendly business practices and the creation of garments with a low carbon footprint.

How Wool Recycling Works

The process followed by Comistra, the Italian company that is among the world’s leaders in wool regeneration, serves as an excellent illustration of how this textile is recycled.

Garments that reached the end of their lives are sorted into colours. Next, linings, zippers, labels and other extraneous materials are removed. The stripped down items are then sorted according to fineness and fabric quality. They are then passed through shredding machines to expose the raw wool fibres. Felt workers then bundle the fibres by hand, ready to be spun into yarn.

How Leading Brands Use Recycled Wool

Marzotto is a well-established Italian clothing manufacturer, who put recycled wool fibres to good use in their celebrated Lanerossi collection. The fibres are taken from the company’s own factory scraps, which are sorted by colour and then shredded and respun into yarn. The collection combines these pure wool fibres with polyester ones, taken from recycled plastic bottles. Through this process, Marzotto ensures that not a single wool fibre is wasted. This in turn allows the company to reduce its environmental impact substantially.

Learn More About Wool and All Its Uses and Benefits

Wool an extremely diverse material, with one of the major benefits being that it is sustainable for the environment. If you are looking to source recycled wool and yarn, we have compiled a list of relevant IWTO Members, their product descriptions and contact details. You can find that here:

https://iwto.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/20210505_IWTO_Recycled-Wool_FA.pdf

Texprocess 2026: Automation, digitalisation and AI redefine textile processing

Making investment decisions in textile processing has become significantly more demanding. Increasing energy costs, a shortage of skilled labour and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties are compelling companies to focus on technologies that deliver clear gains in efficiency and process reliability. This applies equally to apparel manufacturing and to the processing of technical textiles and high-performance materials. As a result, modernisation initiatives are assessed more carefully – even as the need to upgrade production systems continues to intensify.

Techtextil 2026: Between innovation pressure & market reality

From 21 to 24 April 2026, Techtextil in Frankfurt am Main will once again become the central meeting point for the international technical textiles and nonwovens industry. Running in parallel, Texprocess will focus on the industrial implementation of textile processing technologies as the leading platform in this field. Together, the two trade fairs form a closely integrated presentation and working platform along the entire textile value chain – from material development to finished applications.

Between geopolitical pressure and industrial resilience

In this interview, Dr. Janpeter Horn (VDMA) discusses the current challenges facing textile machinery manufacturers, shaped by geopolitical tensions, regulatory developments and subdued investment. He also outlines why innovation strength, integrated solutions and strategic positioning remain key to global competitiveness.

Circular economy offers the EU win-win on environment and economy

Stepping up a circular economy offers the European Union the potential for significant positive impacts on Europe’s environment and poses an untapped and strategic economic opportunity in terms of better access to materials and the creation of new businesses. Three new assessments on circularity, published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA), also stress the need to accelerate investment in circularity efforts to meet EU climate and environment policy targets.

BB Engineering unveils new, patented “ValuePack” spin pack at ITM

At the upcoming ITM in Istanbul, taking place June 9–13 at the Tüyap Fair Convention and Congress Center in Hall 7, Booth 702B, BB Engineering will once again be represented at a joint booth with its parent company, Barmag, and its representative, Tekstil Servis. The German machine manufacturer will show-case its expertise in man-made fiber and recycling technology, presenting its entire product portfolio, which includes compo-nents such as extruders and filters, as well as complete sys-tems for spinning synthetic fibers, air-texturing, and PET recy-cling.

SHIMA SEIKI to show complete knitting and cutting workflow at ITM 2026

Leading computerized flat knitting technology provider SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan, together with its Turkish representative TETAS IC VE DIS TICARET A.S., will participate in the ITM 2026 International Textile Machinery Exhibition in Istanbul, Türkiye this month with a full product lineup. In addition to flat knitting machines and design software, visitors will also have the opportunity to experience the full range of SHIMA SEIKI textile machinery with its automatic cutting machine exhibit, all geared toward the fashion apparel market as well as non-apparel related businesses.

European Flax-Linen & Hemp step into advanced manufacturing: Enabling filament winding, 3D printing and high-performance composite processes

The Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp announces a new wave of technological advancements demonstrating how flax-linen and hemp fibres are now being successfully integrated into advanced composite manufacturing processes. These developments mark a transition beyond traditional hand lay-up techniques, positioning natural fibres as credible, scalable solutions for high-performance industrial applications.

SETEX turns dyeing and finishing data into daily production control

At ITM 2026, SETEX will show how textile mills can use machine, recipe, quality and energy data for more reliable daily production decisions — not as another reporting layer, but as part of the running dyeing and finishing process. With OrgaTEX X3 MES, E390x/C390x controllers, CamCOUNT and FabricInspector Portable, SETEX connects planning, machine execution and fabric-related quality insight within existing mill structures.