trinamiX GmbH, a leading provider of mobile spectroscopy solutions and a subsidiary of BASF, and BASF SE with loopamid, a recycled polyamide 6 entirely made from textile waste, will jointly present their solutions for textile sorting and circularity at the Textiles Recycling Expo 2025.

The event takes place in Brussels, Belgium from June 4 to 5, 2025. Together, they will showcase approaches to textile circularity – from reliable material identification to the use of recycled polyamide 6 for high-performance textiles.

loopamid is a recycled polyamide 6 that is entirely based on textile waste. “The technology behind loopamid allows textile-to-textile recycling for polyamide 6 in a wide variety of fabric blends, including those with elastane,” said Dag Wiebelhaus, Head of Innovation Management at BASF’s Monomers division and loopamid project lead.

BASF recently announced the start-up of the world’s first commercial loopamid plant. The production facility at the Caojing site in Shanghai, China, has an annual capacity of 500 metric tons and utilizes industrial textile waste from textile manufacturing and post-consumer waste for producing loopamid. The feedstock includes cutting scraps, defective cuts, offcuts and other production textile waste from the textile industry. These materials are collected and provided to BASF by partners. End-of-life garments made from polyamide 6 and other textile products can also be utilized for the production of loopamid.

All these waste materials are challenging to recycle because they typically consist of a mixture of different fibers and materials as well as dyes and additives. Additionally, for post-consumer waste recycling, buttons, zippers and accessories must be removed in advance. BASF works closely with partners and customers to accelerate the development of collection and sorting systems.

trinamiX Mobile Near-Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy Solution enables fast, reliable and non-destructive identification of a wide range of textiles and blends – such as polyester, cotton, wool or polyamide including PA 6 and PA 6.6. BASF has utilized trinamiX technology to qualify PA 6 waste streams for their loopamid product.

The system features a robust, portable NIR spectrometer, accompanied by an app that leverages sophisticated cloud-based data analysis, along with a customer portal for managing results, downloading reports, and exporting data.

To meet the specific needs of recyclers, trinamiX offers a flexible solution that accommodates different workflows. Users can choose between a compact handheld device for spot checks or a semi-automated setup that can be seamlessly integrated into a sorting table, allowing for automatically triggered scans for enhanced efficiency.