When Texcircle launched two years ago, what were the challenges you had envisaged? Were you already prepared fully for these challenges, or did you have to make course corrections midway?
The project goals for Texcircle were clear: we wanted to find out how collaborations between partners with circular plans have to be enforced and how synergies can be used, especially regarding the common use of material streams. Furthermore, from a more design-technical perspective, our goal was to realise yarns suitable for garment applications with a minimum of 50% recycled content.
Nevertheless, the project was full of complex challenges for us to foresee. Textile waste processing was more time-consuming and complicated than expected. We also lost more material than expected during these processes. In addition, the project fell into the first COVID-19 period, which made exchange difficult, especially with foreign collaboration partners. And then, we were surprised by the higher material and shipping costs. Nevertheless, no major course corrections had to be made, and the project team exceeded the original project goals.
The basic plans, obviously, would have been in place before the project was launched. But, in terms of nitty gritties, how long did it take for the actual plans to be made?
Concerning the planning and developing of the six prototypes, the project team chose a dynamic approach, which made it possible to react actively to unforeseeable events. However, meticulous planning of the material tests was crucial, as the project size allowed only a few tests simultaneously. In some cases, "one-shot" situations arose that only allowed one trial. This was mainly due to large minimum quantities in processing (especially in shredding and spinning or in producing nonwovens). As a result, it took the project team one and a half years to have all details ready to start production.