MP praises Salvation Army technology to tackle ‘alarming’ textile waste

Kettering MP, Rosie Wrighting, has praised the innovation and technology of The Salvation Army’s work in tackling textile waste during visits to two of the charity’s Processing Centres which are leading the way in textile-to-textile recycling and are based in the MP’s constituency.

Rosie’s first stop was The Salvation Army’s purpose-built Processing Centre in Kettering Business Park which is home to the UK’s only automated textile sorting facility, FibersortTM. This technology automatically identifies and sorts second-hand textiles by fibre type and is the first step in textile-to-textile recycling.

A few miles down the road in Cransley Park is Project Re:claimTM, a new joint venture between SATCoL and Project Plan B. A key part of the project is a polyester recycling machine located at The Salvation Army’s Processing Centre. Working together, The Salvation Army and Project Plan B bring their expertise and market reach to provide new solutions to partners who are working on creating more sustainable and recyclable designs of the future.

Ms Wrighting said: “I am really proud that The Salvation Army has chosen Kettering as the place to innovate and pilot new technology that offers the potential to make the fashion industry more sustainable. The volume of textiles waste is alarming and to be able to give unwearable products another life is really exciting for the fashion sector and helps protect our planet.”

The Processing Centres are operated by Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCoL) who also manage over 260 charity shops on behalf of its parent charity.

Trevor Caffull, Managing Director of SATCoL, said:

“Reusing and repurposing items remains one of the most positive ways to be environmentally responsible and reduce the volume of textiles going to waste and incineration every year in the UK. This is where charity shops play a vital role in reducing that environmental burden and at SATCoL we have invested further in the opportunity to recycle textile waste into future products, and further lessen the burden on our planet’s resources.”