At a Salvation Military warehouse in Kettering, Northamptonshire, fringed sweaters, threadbare T-shirts and worn coats circulation alongside a conveyor belt and cross by means of a £300,000 infrared scanner.
It is an unlikely place to find the chopping fringe of sustainable trend, however the charity hopes its new machine will flip unwearable donations into new garments, slightly than the material being despatched to landfill or incinerated.
The federal government-funded scanner detects the sort and coloration of clothes deemed too scruffy or broken to promote in charity retailers and classifies them into wool, cotton, polyester or viscose. They’re then shipped off to be turned again into yarn for use to make new sweaters, cardigans and socks.
An infrared scanner can detect the fabric of broken clothes so it may be recycled
A shirred coral cashmere cardigan from M&S rolls down the