28 May Resuinsa leads a crucial transformation in the hotel industry through textile recycling
The top Spanish hotel chains committed to sustainability are taking part in a Resuinsa-led R&D&i project
European Directive EU 2018/851 will soon come into force. This coming 1st January 2025, selective textile waste collection and management will be mandatory for Member States. The directive directly affects hoteliers since they will be responsible for the waste they generate.
In light of this, Resuinsa is developing a viable solution through an R&D&i project aimed at supporting hoteliers to comply with the new directive. In this sense, we are developing a project alongside the CDTI—the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation, a public institute under the Ministry of Science and Innovation, which promotes innovation and technological development at Spanish businesses.
This is our fifth collaboration with the CDTI and enables textiles used by hotels to be reintroduced into the textile value chain through repurposing waste and boosting a 100% circular economy at hotels. In this vein, hoteliers will have a practicable solution and the chance to join the textile waste management system.
‘The top Spanish hotel chains are committed to sustainability and want to join this R&D&i project. We are working together to create a greener and more environmentally friendly future’, explains Resuinsa CEO, Félix Martí. He also adds that in this way, ‘we are creating a completely innovative model for textile waste generated by hotel establishments to be repurposed into new products within the sector itself’.
What does the RECOFID project involve?
The introduction of the new European Directive will require hotel chains have a plan to manage and provide a second life to the tonnes of textile waste they produce every year. As Martí explains, ‘thanks to the development of this project, Resuinsa data show a hotel establishment can generate up to one tonne of textile waste per year’.
This is why the RECOFID project considers all aspects linked to collection, processing and managing textile waste, with a view to transforming it into new items for hotels.
These aspects include research into the optimal percentage mix of fresh and recycled fibres for later re-use or the benefits provided by RFID technology in processing textile recycling at hotels.
As a pioneering company in R&D&i, Resuinsa is getting ahead of the game to offer a real solution for future challenges through sustainable initiatives, opening up new areas of research and implementing innovative practices. ‘By focusing on the new regulations, and thanks to the participation of major Spanish hotel chains, we are jointly plotting a path towards a circular economy within the sector that will benefit the environment, our customers and society as a whole’, concludes Félix Martí.