#Recycling / Circular Economy
Marimekko recycles end-of-life textiles from its own production – cooperation with Rester supports the company’s goal of a value chain in line with circular economy
“Our goal is to continuously reduce the amount of waste we generate, and this work starts from the design table. Efforts are made to optimize the recovery and recycling of the waste resulting from production. We are also exploring the possibilities of using the recycled fibers made of our own end-of-life textiles in the manufacture of new products. We believe that, in the future, timeless and sustainable products will be made in balance with the environment, in line with the principles of the circular economy,” says Riika Wikberg, Chief Business Development Officer at Marimekko.
“One of the best things about this collaboration is that we can help our partner achieve its important goal of recycling its end-of-life textiles into a new textile product. For every tonne of fiber produced, the recycling of end-of-life textiles saves on average 525,000 liters of water and 3,700 kilograms of carbon dioxide compared to the production of completely new textile fiber. It is great that circular economy and the ensuing environmental savings are at the heart of both companies’ values,” says Henna Knuutila, Rester’s Account and Development Manager.
For years, almost 100 percent of the waste generated at Marimekko’s textile printing factory and headquarters has been utilized either in energy production or as recycled material, and the company strives to continuously increase the share of waste recycled as material. Recycling of end-of-life textiles is in line with EU regulations requiring the separate collection of textile waste by 2025. In Finland, the separate collection of textile waste will already start at the beginning of 2023.
Rester is a Finnish company offering textile recycling solutions that enable the recycling of business textiles into new textile fibers and high-quality raw materials. In November 2021, the company opened the largest textile recycling plant of Northern Europe in Finland. In Rester´s mechanical recycling process companies end-of-life textiles are opened into fibers. Rester’s recycled fiber can be used, for example, in yarns, nonwoven materials such as insulation, acoustic boards and filter fabrics, and composite materials.
