Imagine if clothes had 'magic' threads that disappeared when heated to a specific temperature. Instead of people spending hours cutting out zippers and buttons by hand, you just put the clothes in a special oven and the garment falls apart into clean pieces. This makes it much easier to turn old clothes back into high-quality new fabric.
Textile recycling is currently unfeasible at scale because removing zippers, buttons, and labels by hand is too slow and expensive. This results in less than 1% of textiles being recycled back into new clothes.
A complete disassembly system consisting of heat-dissolvable threads (Smart Stitch), heat-dismountable rivets (Smart Rivet), and industrial-scale thermal ovens (Smart Disassembly).
If you are a clothing brand dealing with the difficulty of making circular products — this project developed Smart Stitch threads that melt at 150–200°C. This allows your garments to be easily taken apart at the end of their life, enabling true textile-to-textile recycling.
If you are a recycler dealing with the slow and expensive process of manual disassembly — this project developed Smart Disassembly industrial machines. These thermo-mechanical systems automatically separate fabrics from trims in large volumes, removing the economic bottleneck of manual labor.
If you are a manufacturer dealing with complex multi-material products like mattress covers — this project developed a 150°C low-temperature thread. This allows for efficient disassembly of products that do not require high heat resistance during use.
It replaces slow and expensive manual disassembly of zippers, buttons, and labels with an automated thermal process. This removes the technical and economic bottleneck that currently prevents the industry from becoming circular.
Yes, the project developed 'Smart Disassembly' industrial-scale ovens and continuous systems designed to handle large volumes of garments.
Based on available project data, the IP centers on two eco-design innovations: Smart Stitch heat-activated threads and Smart Disassembly thermo-mechanical machinery.
The solution involves using specific threads (Smart Stitch) and rivets (Smart Rivet) during the garment assembly phase so they can be triggered later during recycling.
The project period runs from 2022-11-01 to 2025-10-31, focusing on validating operational and economic viability through industrial pilots.
The project is led by a single Belgian SME, REGENERATION, which holds 100% of the industry ratio. This lean structure suggests a highly focused commercial drive, utilizing a EUR 2,500,000 EU contribution to scale their proprietary technology directly into industrial pilots.
Contact REGENERATION in Belgium for licensing and pilot opportunities.
Contact us to connect with the Resortecs team for industrial pilot integration.
