Polski
Elastane Under Control, Carpets in a Closed Loop: Textile Recycling Picks Up Speed
This week in textile recycling brings two strong proofs that the closed loop is no longer just a slogan, but an actual working business model. A US startup is tackling the most stubborn obstacle in recycling fabric blends — elastane — while in Japan, a carpet manufacturer and a property developer are closing the loop on a material that used to end up in landfill.
01 · Elastane Recycling
Ravel: $8.2 Million to Solve the Elastane Problem
Let's start with a small clarification, since it's worth getting the facts straight: Ravel isn't a Polish manufacturer, but a globally operating startup based in Seattle. The company has just raised $8.2 million in a seed round led by One Small Planet, with participation from AP Ventures, among others [1].
The funding will drive the development of a technology known as "purification recycling" — a process that separates elastane (better known as spandex) from blended fabrics and turns the recovered material into pellets used to make new polyester [1]. This matters because today less than 1% of clothing materials are recycled back into new textile production — and elastane blends, common precisely in upholstery and decorative fabrics, are among the hardest to process [1]. If Ravel's technology proves itself at greater scale, it could become a real tool for home textile manufacturers who have long been searching for a way to close the life cycle of their materials.
02 · Closed Loop
Japan Shows How to Close the Loop on Carpets
From theory to practice, we move to Japan, where TOLI and Asahi Kasei Homes have already launched a working closed-loop system for carpet tiles [2]. The mechanism is simple and elegant: carpet tile waste generated at new construction sites is collected under a cross-regional certification system and then sent to TOLI, which processes it into raw material chips [2].
These chips are used to make the eco-friendly Sustiback backing, which goes back into... new buildings — it's used in the common areas of Hebel Maison residential developments built by Asahi Kasei Homes [2]. It's a concrete, field-tested model of cooperation between a material manufacturer and a developer, in which construction waste never leaves the value chain but returns to it in a new form. For the European carpet and floor textile market, this is a ready-made model worth following, especially where regulations are pushing ever harder for a reduction in construction waste.
Summary
Summary
Both news items, though they concern different market segments — elastane fabrics and carpet flooring — point in the same direction: textile recycling is no longer an experiment, but an element of business strategy for manufacturers and developers alike. It's worth keeping an eye on whether similar solutions will also make their way to the European home and decorative textile market.
We'll be discussing in more depth how the industry is tackling the closed-loop challenge at the Warsaw Home Textile – International Fabric and Design Fair. Stay tuned for the next installments of our industry roundup.
Invitation
The fabric and carpet recycling topics we're covering today will be one of the main threads of this year's fair. See live the technologies and solutions that are changing the way home and decorative textiles are made. Let's meet at Warsaw Home Textile — join the exhibitors and visitors shaping the future of the industry.
Warsaw Home Textile 2026Footnotes
[1] GeekWire — https://www.geekwire.com/2026/startup-ravel-raises-8-2m-to-help-solve-clothing-recyclings-spandex-problem/[2] Circular Economy Hub Japan — https://cehub.jp/en/news-en/toli-and-asahi-kasei-homes-build-closed-loop-recycling-scheme-for-domestic-tile-carpets-sourced-from-new-build-construction-sites/