Belgian textile recycling company Resortecs and French sporting goods retailer Decathlon have teamed up to develop a line of recyclable swimwear. This collaboration addresses a significant challenge in swimwear recycling: the high elastane content, which typically cannot be recycled separately from the yarns.

Decathlon's solution, Negombo, utilizes a reusable fabric that provides elasticity without the need for elastane, revolutionizing swimwear manufacturing. However, elastic bands in swimwear still pose a recycling obstacle, as conventional methods cannot process them separately from the main fabric.

Resortecs' innovative technology, including thermally dissolvable sewing threads (Smart Stitch) and thermal disassembly solution (Smart Disassembly), offers a solution to this challenge. This technology allows for the effective separation of elastic bands from the main fabric at the end of the garment's life cycle, maximizing recyclability.

Acerina Trejo Machin, Chief Technology Officer at Resortecs, highlights the efficiency of Resortecs' process, which significantly increases material recovery while reducing manual intervention and processing time compared to conventional methods.