Neumünster, Gaziantep, July 16th, 2020 – Business growth andenvironmentalism rarely go hand in hand. For some, the two ideas arediametrically opposed, forcing companies to take an either or approach. One ofthe global recycling pioneers Gama Recycle, however, has spent the last twodecades spinning other people’s waste material into a new kind of gold –regenerated yarns and fibers. We had the opportunity to discuss with ZaferKaplan, founder of Gama Recycle, the current state-of-the-art in recycling and catcha glimpse of how the company is planning to ramp up production with an upcomingstable fiber plant from Oerlikon Neumag.
As one of the largest producers of regenerated yarn and fibers, you bothrecycle textiles and use R-PET bottle flakes in production. How did thisdevelop, and why did you commit yourself to recycling? We have been in business since 1997. From the very beginning, we producedrecycled items. We gained a reputation for recycling textiles, as well as someplastics, so five years ago we even changed our name to Gama Recycle. To behonest, it was both environmentally and financially relevant at the time. Therewas a huge amount of plastic and textiles waiting to be reused. One of the mostcomplicated aspects, though, was actually collecting all the materials.
What special considerations are required to produce regenerated yarnsand fibers? In the beginning, producing regenerated fibers and yarns was not a highpriority for most people. Most countries and companies were not particularlysensitive to environmental issues. A lot of the cutting waste from the garmentor textile industry was simply thrown away as trash or sent to be incinerated.It was not valuable for them to actually take care of these leftover materials.
As a result, we developed someideas to turn these ‘unusable’ materials into regenerated fiber and yarn forseveral industrial use cases. We already have 18 patents for recycled products,machines, and equipment, with 10 more currently under review. Today, mostgarment manufacturers have started to sort and sell their leftover cuttingmaterials, instead of simply throwing them into the garbage. This is a huge improvement, because there were also only a few machinemanufacturers on the market when we started recycling textiles, and most of thetime we had to convert or modify our machines to make it suitable for recyclingprocesses. Today, a lot of companies are focusing on recycling machines, andthis has helped encourage a lot of growth in the whole industry as well.
What do you recycle, andwhich polymers are these materials made of? We recycle pre-consumer cutting or industrial waste as well as postconsumergarments, PET bottles, PET trays, and other PET-based packaging materials orconsumer products. We also have several patents for recycling previously usedgarments into recycled cotton and polyester fibers.
In what condition do youpurchase your raw materials, and which steps of the process do you handleinternally? Sourcing is the most crucial and complicated part of our work. We purchasewaste (our raw materials) from all over the world. We have several standards forraw materials, but unfortunately sometimes this does not match up with thespecification of what you actually buy.
You will also use a staplefiber plant from Oerlikon Neumag in your production. What makes this planttechnology so interesting for your process? Recycled fibers have huge market potential. End-users are looking forenvironmentally friendly products, but they won’t compromise on the quality ofthe products they buy. This is why we prefer to use the Neumag fiber line. Weare able to control the whole process in a very efficient way, with aconsistently high quality of fiber as well as less production waste.
The preparation of recycling materials is a bit more complex. It seemsthat producing yarn and fiber from recycled materials is really profitablecompared to virgin material. Or was your decision motivated more by idealism? Yes, it is more profitable in most of cases – but also riskier and morecomplicated as well. You need a lot of know-how and experience, good machineryand equipment; otherwise, it will be a huge loss. While we do run a business,we are of course proud to do our part for sustainability and the environment byextending natural resources for future generations.
For example, we have developed a new patented fiber called CUPROCEL thatis made of rPET polymer. Its touch, drape, stretch, recovery, etc., is notcomparable to any other synthetic fiber. It is almost like cellulosic fiberssuch as modal or lyocell. We sell it as a fabric which is created withrecycling processes. We even offer to buy cutting waste from our customers, aswell as post-consumer garments. That is how we take sustainability intoconsideration. We believe this will help other people to follow suit.
What areyour goals for the next three to five years? And what role does the OerlikonNeumag plant play in your overall approach? We will work up to a total of 300 tons of PET flake capacity per day, whichwill allow us, on a daily basis, to make 200 tons of recycled polyester fibersand 100 tons of PET chips for filament yarn and bottle-to- bottle (food-grade)applications. This is a great opportunity to have the Neumag line. With itsimpressive technology and capability, we will be able to achieve our goals moreeasily.
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