The installation integrates Girbau’s Sortech system with Picvisa’s Ecosort technology. Sortech is designed to automate the feeding, separation and controlled distribution of garments in high-volume industrial environments. The system replaces repetitive manual handling and ensures a consistent material flow to downstream processes. Originally developed for industrial laundry applications, the technology has been adapted to meet the operational requirements of post-consumer textile sorting, where increasing material volumes require scalable and robust processing solutions.
Ecosort is Picvisa’s optical sorting system for textiles. The technology identifies and classifies garments according to fibre composition, colour and garment type. This enables the production of defined output fractions suitable for reuse markets as well as for mechanical or chemical recycling processes. By generating homogeneous material streams, the system supports quality requirements in secondary raw materials processing.
The integration of automated feeding and optical sorting enhances process stability and throughput while reducing dependency on manual pre-sorting. The combined system is designed to improve sorting consistency and operational ergonomics in textile treatment facilities.
According to the companies, the plant is among the first in Europe to integrate automated feeding technology and advanced optical textile sorting within a single line dedicated to post-consumer textiles. The project reflects the ongoing industrialisation of textile recycling in response to regulatory developments and increasing separate collection volumes across Europe.
With this installation, Ecosort reaches its eighth reference plant in Europe. The project also represents Picvisa’s second turnkey textile sorting facility on the continent. Both companies state that the technical concept can be replicated in other markets where demand for automated post-consumer textile sorting capacity is growing.
