Ahrensburg, August 2023. SOEX is pleased to announce a partnership with the CIRCULAR RE-PUBLIC initiative. Together, SOEX and CIRCULAR REPUBLIC form a strategic alliance to further advance the principles of the circular economy within the company and invest in a prosperous, resilient and sustainable future. The long-term goal of the collaboration: to close the loop along the entire value chain of the textile industry.
Through the partnership, SOEX now becomes part of an international movement that aims to reform the way business has operated over the last two centuries. The linear system of produce, consume, dispose is to be bent into a cycle. In this effort, the working group „Circular Textile Platform“ follows a simple principle: waste fewer resources by keeping them in use – with the grand vision of a world without waste. Together with a network of companies, initiatives, stake- holders and representatives of science, united through the CIRCULAR REPUBLIC Platform, SOEX is now increasingly working on new circular structures to make this vision a reality.
As a globally active specialised service provider for the collection, sorting, reuse and recycling of used textiles and shoes, SOEX has been working constantly since the 1970s to create awareness for the value of worn clothing. The SOEX Group sees itself as an important player in the cycle that can ensure that resources are reused or recycled to conserve them and avoid waste. The primary goal of the SOEX Group is to keep 100 percent of used textiles in the product cycle.
Because clothes that stay in use and are worn again are better for the planet – the material and energy used to make them do not need to be replaced.
But the truth is that a true closed loop does not yet exist. The textile industry is still largely linear.
Worldwide, less than one percent of textile waste is sent for fibre-to-fibre-recycling. Yet the collection volume in Germany, with 1.3 million tonnes of old textiles annually, forms the best basis for a functioning cycle. The 150 tonnes of used textiles that reach the SOEX sorting plants every day are an important start. But SOEX wants to go even further, optimise the cycle even more and ultimately take on even more responsibility for climate protection. To achieve this, SOEX relies on industry players coming together to make the right decisions, from design to material selection, so that the life of products can be extended as much as possible. This is where SOEX can contribute experience and knowledge: for example, SOEX developed an infrared sorting station that can recognise material using artificial intelligence and optimise sorting even further. On the way to a completely closed cycle, SOEX now has CIRCULAR REPUBLIC as a strong partner at its side.
„I have personally known SOEX CEO Walter Thomsen for quite some time and have been working on sustainability and circular economy issues for a number of years, including with my shoe companies Monaco Ducks and GRND.shoes,“ Carl Warkentin, founder of the Circular Textile Platform at CIRCULAR REPUBLIC, commented on the newly formed partnership.
By partnering with CIRCULAR REPUBLIC, SOEX gains access to a start-up-ecosystem that forges connections between like-minded partners and creates an environment of exchange.
In addition, the SOEX group will be able to further refine its corporate philosophy through learning programmes on the topic of the circular economy and will have access to the latest research results to be able to target corporate activities in line with the state of the art in science. CIRCULAR REPUBLIC also helps SOEX to further expand its already internationally linked partner network from science and industry and brings representatives of the textile
industry to one table. Together, they aim to achieve system-changing effects, revolutionise value chains and pave the way for a sustainable and regenerative future.
About SOEX Group
The SOEX Group is a worldwide specialist service provider in the collection, sorting, re-use and recycling of used textiles and footwear. The collected items are sorted and graded in certified operations, following the international waste hierarchy: reuse is preferred over recycling. Its research with partners for new solutions makes SOEX unique in the industry. The goal of SOEX is to maximize recycling following its zero waste philosophy.
About CIRCULAR REPUBLIC
Circular Economy is the basis for a prosperous, resilient and sustainable economy. As part of UnternehmerTUM, Europe‘s largest center for innovation and start-ups, CIRCULAR REPUBLIC empowers companies and start-ups to realize circular economy innovations and develop new business models. As a platform, the initiative connects relevant actors and aims to set system-changing impulses along the entire value chain.
