RIT’s prototype strips zips, prints and trims from garments in about ten seconds—tackling the labour bottleneck that keeps most post-consumer clothing out of high-quality recycling streams.
In textile recycling, the hard bit is not shredding fabric; it is undoing clothing. Zippers, buttons, labels and screen prints turn “recyclable” into “too costly to sort”, leaving much of the world’s used apparel destined for landfill or low-grade downcycling.
Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology have built an automated deconstruction line that “sees” a garment, decides what must be removed, and cuts it out. Cameras create a multi-dimensional map; algorithms identify features (logos, cuffs, collars) and infer fibre type using optical signals; a robotic laser cutter then excises non-recyclable elements; and a gantry sorts the removed parts away from the reusable textile. The prototype handles roughly one garment every 10 seconds.
If this step can be industrialised, it attacks the cost centre that keeps post-consumer feedstock unreliable. Better pre-processing means recyclers can demand higher purity streams, making chemical and mechanical recycling more bankable—and pushing brands towards designs that are easier to disassemble.
The project, started in 2023 and supported by a REMADE Institute grant, has worked with partners including Ambercycle and Goodwill of the Finger Lakes, with early-stage input from Nike. The team expects partners to continue pilot testing and move towards deployment.
