Looking for the best West Flemish product: Valtech has a revolutionary sorting system in-house

MENEN – Made in West Flanders is looking for the best product ‘Made in West Flanders’. The Valtech Group of the Vandeputte family comes with a revolutionary sorting system.

·What is the name of the product and what exactly is it?

-Trimclean is a revolutionary system that automatically removes unwanted substances, such as zippers, buttons and labels, from recyclable textiles.

·Where is it produced?

-Trimclean is produced in-house at Valvan in Menen.

·How did you come up with the idea for this product?

-The idea for Trimclean arose when we developed a similar system for sorting wood flows. The development of Trimclean makes it possible to automate the entire recycling process. To achieve this, the interfering substances had to be removed manually.

· Why are you so proud of this product specifically?

-Trimclean, the ultimate breakthrough in textile recycling, transforms textile waste into valuable raw materials. Today, only 1% of all textiles worldwide are recycled. Trimclean places West Flanders on the map as the epicenter for textile waste processing. It answers the call for a circular economy and contributes to the conservation of precious raw materials in Europe.

·Who are the main buyers of your product?

-Our main customers include clothing sorters, recycling companies and fiber manufacturers. In addition, we also serve the social sector with an emphasis on accessible employment, as well as textile institutes and universities involved in research and development within the textile industry.

·What exactly is Valtech/Valvan?

-Valvan is a global player in high-quality sorting systems and baling presses for the textile and recycling industries. What sets us apart is a strong team of specialists who work closely with customers to automate processes and make our installations smarter, safer, more sustainable and more efficient. For the textile recycling industry we not only offer Trimclean, but also Fibersort, an advanced system that sorts clothing fully automatically based on optical detection. These two products complement each other seamlessly. We operate globally and provide comprehensive customer support through integrated visualization and support systems. Our company Valvan is part of the Valtech Group, a group of independent companies that specialize in tailor-made mechanical engineering in various disciplines.

·Why should readers vote for you?

-Trimclean fits perfectly into the story of circularity, where textile waste is converted into valuable raw materials. What sets Trimclean apart is that it is designed and manufactured from A to Z in Flanders, thereby contributing to local production and employment. Trimclean demonstrates how artificial intelligence and advanced engineering offer the recycling industry new possibilities that were unthinkable until recently.

photo: Maurits Vandeputte (innovation manager), Frank Vandeputte (CEO Valtech Group) and Dieter Wittouck (CEO Valvan).