From the Sector

HTWK Leipzig has launched Blade2Poly with KomRec-ReCond and Schmaus Kunststoffaufbereitung to develop an energy-efficient recycling chain for end-of-life wind-turbine blades. The goal is to recover glass-fibre-reinforced plastics as higher-value secondary raw materials for new injection-moulding applications.

The route starts with material characterisation and categorisation, followed by mechanical processing, intelligent material-flow control and combination of recovered glass fibres with recycled polymers to create post-consumer recycled compounds.

Rotor blades are a demanding circularity case because large, durable composite structures must ultimately be converted into heterogeneous waste streams. Blade2Poly therefore addresses not only size reduction but the quality of recovered material and its compatibility with a new industrial process.

The collaborative R&D project runs from June 2026 to January 2029 under Germany's ZIM programme.

Mood Fabrics has launched a 15-fabric collection with ten-year-old designer Max Alexander. The Mood × Max Alexander line debuted in New York on 14 September and is being sold online and through Mood's U.S. retail locations.

The company lists BCI cotton, EcoVero viscose, European flax linen and recycled-polyester faux fur among the materials. The range combines prints and textured fashion fabrics with several fibre choices already associated with established sourcing or recycling programmes.

Alexander selected and annotated the fabrics. The collaboration therefore starts at material choice, leaving the collection open to further garment design and making rather than presenting a fixed apparel capsule.

Ravel has closed an oversubscribed $8.2 million seed round led by One Small Planet, with participation from AP Ventures, Overlay Capital, Lichen Ventures and existing investors. The funding is intended to move the Seattle-based recycling company from pilot operation towards commercial readiness.

Its Purification Recycling process is aimed at one of apparel recycling's persistent problems: stretch blends. Elastane is widely used in activewear, denim, underwear and other garments, yet even relatively small percentages can interfere with established recycling routes.

Rather than treating the whole textile as a single feedstock, Ravel is developing a separation and purification route for polyester/elastane blends. The company says recovered material can be converted into recycled plastic pellets for renewed use as a raw material.

The next phase will test more than chemistry. Commercial viability depends on throughput, feedstock variability, separation efficiency, energy and chemical inputs, and the quality of the recovered fractions. Ravel plans to validate the process at production scale with textile partners.

The financing adds capacity at a point where recyclers are increasingly trying to tackle blends that mechanical systems cannot readily return to fibre.