#Spinning

2021-01-11

Gama Recycle in Gaziantep: The pioneer in textile recycling

At Gama Iplik ve Dokuma Sanayi A.S. in Gaziantep, south-east Turkey, everything has revolved around spinning used textiles into regenerated yarns since 1997. 100 tons of yarn and 50 tons of polyester fibers are the daily output.

Applications of the yarns produced in three spinning mills range from upholstery, home textiles and socks to cleaning cloths and packaging. But the range also includes special yarns with flame-retardant or antibacterial finish and heavy-metal-free bleached yarns for the food industry. All three plants are equipped with Truetzschler machines: Automatic bale openers BLENDOMAT and various Generations of cards with integrated draw frames (IDF2) contribute to the particularly good yarn quality.

Eva Trenz from Truetzschler talked to Zafer Kaplan, the owner of Gama Iplik.

Gama Iplik is one of the world’s greatest regenerate spinners. This implies a lot of empirical knowledge. What are the typical raw materials you are using?

Zafer Kaplan: The bandwidth of the raw materials that we process ranges from textile production waste like rags, snippets or other textile waste to post-consumer material. Millions of tons of old textiles are collected every year, but qualities vary greatly.

What do you pay attention to when purchasing ‘good’ textile waste?

Zafer Kaplan: We prefer, and that is a great challenge, classified material sorted by color and type of material.

A great environmental problem are ultra-cheap clothes. Did the quality of the raw material change within the last years? And where do you purchase your raw material?

Zafer Kaplan: We mostly buy the rags and snippets in Turkey. PET bottles are mostly imported from all over the world. The quality of the snippets is indeed getting worse and worse in the last years in Turkey. We clearly note more contamination in the production process. The threads of the fancy items in clothing production are of a poor basic quality, unfortunately.

The various basic qualities certainly require a special approach to the processing of the raw materials. How do you sort and cut the textile waste?

Zafer Kaplan: There is no way around manual sorting. Our operators are very experienced in evaluating materials. Manual sorting is essential. Also we carry out precutting and shredding processes.

From your point of view: The main challenges of the textile recycling process are….

Zafer Kaplan: It’s all about good people and the best machinery. We attach great importance to that constantly growing experience of our team, whether management or operator. Also the capability, technology and quality of the production machines are very significant.

One of the hardest parts of your business is the production of constant quality. How do you manage it?

Zafer Kaplan: We have a well-trained laboratory team in our company which guides the operators with constantly acquired knowledge and which controls the whole production process.

Zafer Kaplan, the owner of Gama Iplik © 2021 Truetzschler

What are the benefits of Truetzschler machines for your process and – of course – the yarn quality you achieve?

Zafer Kaplan: In our plant we have TC 03, TC 07, TC 11, TC 15, TC 19i, so to say: all types of Truetzschler cards. And we are very satisfied with the quality and the capability of the whole Truetzschler equipment. I would say they are the key machines in the regenerated spinning process.

How do you determine the mix of materials in your end product in view of the European Textile Labeling Act?

Zafer Kaplan: Of course we have a chemical laboratory. All necessary tests regarding the material composition are carried out there.

Sustainability is a big future issue for all of us. What challenges and developments do you expect for the future?

Zafer Kaplan: The competition is getting harder. There is a great demand for recycled yarn on the market, but what’s missing are enough good raw materials.

For which applications the produced yarn will be used?

Zafer Kaplan: We produce yarns for almost all textiles, clothing, upholstery, socks, carpets and much more. 50 percent of the production remains in Turkey, the other half is exported to 16 different countries, including Germany, Belgium and North America.

Perfect quality through collaboration: Machinery from Trützschler, Toyota and Murata at Zirve Tekstil

In today’s textile industry, excellence is not achieved by chance – it’s the result of deliberate decisions, technical expertise, and the courage to go beyond conventional paths. The Turkish company Zirve Tekstil has done just that: by combining the best technologies from Trützschler, Toyota and Murata, they’ve created a production setup that delivers outstanding yarn quality – recognized worldwide.

Details matter: How Trützschler cylinder wires boost efficiency in Pakistan’s spinning sector

Pakistan’s textile industry, especially its spinning sector, is the backbone of the national economy and a vibrant hub of innovation. Today’s spinning mills face growing demands for efficiency, quality, and sustainability. From the serene northern valleys to the vibrant port city of Karachi in the south, mills like Suraj Cotton Mills, Liberty, and Nishat Chunian are turning to advanced solutions.

T-CAN – Revolutionizing can transport

In virtually all spinning mills, transporting sliver cans is still done manually. Rising labor costs, lack of operators and increasing quality requirements make this a growing challenge. With T-CAN, Trützschler introduces a practical solution: a fully automated can transport system that will be presented live at ITMA ASIA 2025 in Singapore.

Pre-Cleaner CL-X: The future of cotton cleaning

What if the future of cotton cleaning was already here – setting a new standard for cleaning efficiency, productivity and energy savings? That future has a name: CL-X. Since its market launch in 2022, the Pre-Cleaner CL-X has become a true bestseller, proving its value in several hundred customer applications worldwide. Now, new results from Türkiye demonstrate again how the Pre-Cleaner CL-X outperforms the competition.

Temco launches a new DTY all-in-one solution

Temco introduces the DTY All-in-One Solution – a fully harmonized set of components engineered to give customers a highly stable, low maintenance and reproducible process environment. The solution reduces interruptions, extends component lifetimes and supports consistent yarn quality across all machine positions. All-in-One Solution – a fully harmonized set of components engineered to provide maintenance and reproducible process environment.

DIENES at Techtextil 2026: Flexible pilot lines for bio-based fiber development

The growing relevance of bio-based materials in technical textiles is accompanied by increasing demands for reproducibility, high-quality data, and scalable process routes. Especially when working with cellulose and its derivatives, chitosan, lignin-based approaches, or bio-based PAN as a carbon-fiber precursor, R&D teams face variable feedstock quality, tighter process windows, and the need for reliable comparability across trials. This calls for flexible, data-driven experimental setups that can be reconfigured efficiently when recipes, solvents, and raw-material batches change.

RETECH showcases high-precision godets for high-performance fiber processing at Techtextil 2026

RETECH designs and manufactures godets and draw frames for heated, ambient and cooled processes, enabling precise heat treatment and consistently high yarn quality for a wide range of polymers and applications, with process temperatures of up to 400 °C for high-performance fibers. The company’s key competence lies in exact and stable temperature and speed control, individually adapted to the specific material and process requirements.

New study shows low environmental impact by Cotton made in Africa Organic Cotton from Tanzania

Today, the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) is announcing the results of a comprehensive life-cycle analysis (LCA) for cotton produced in Tanzania under the Cotton made in Africa Organic (CmiA Organic) standard. The study emphasises the small ecological footprint of CmiA Organic verified cotton. This can largely be traced back to the absence of synthetic pesticides, artificial fertilisers, and artificial irrigation. Consequently, CmiA Organic cotton can help the textile industry meet regulatory requirements as well as science-based targets. The results also show that the consequences of climate change threaten the livelihoods of these cotton farmers, even though the type of agriculture they practise barely contributes to climate change.

PERFORMANCE DAYS proves its relevance as the industry’s key meeting point

Held on March 18–19, 2026, PERFORMANCE DAYS once again confirmed its position as a leading international platform for functional textiles. A total of 3.366 trade visitors and around 560 exhibitors gathered in Munich, with the event already kicking off successfully on DAY 0, which received highly positive feedback for its interactive format. Despite challenging conditions caused by the public transport strike in Munich, the event saw strong attendance and a consistently high level of activity across both exhibition days.