It’s only 12 short months since All-Tex Recyclers embarked in a strategic business decision to relocate to the village of Cloughmills and since then have grown from strength to strength.
All-Tex Recyclers are a leading textile recycling and export business and a dominant force in the Irish textile recycling market. Currently employing 120 staff All-Tex Recyclers are now in the process of investing heavily in their production whilst creating an additional 40 new jobs to help secure their position as Ireland’s market leader in textile recycling.
A business with its feet firmly on the ground, All-Tex Recyclers has taken sustainable steps to ensure their success in the market place. All-Tex Recyclers are one of the few companies within Ireland who can report sustainable growth, due in short to the business acumen of two managing directors with a commitment to evolve their business at a strategic pace.
All-Tex Factory
All-Tex Recyclers have aspirations to continue to grow their company in Ireland and are lucky to report a successful team of employees who are helping to drive this forward thinking company in the right direction during the current economic downturn.
All-Tex Recyclers works with some well known charities and councils across Ireland and are now developing a vision for the future with a win win situation for all. Paula Mc Auley, Business Development Manager for All-Tex Recyclers said: ‘All-Tex Recyclers are a forward thinking company and I consider myself fortunate to be employed by a business with its feet firmly on the ground but with the vision to succeed. Our company’s investment in 40 new staff reinforces our commitment to the Borough of Ballymoney and we have the vision to continue to drive our expansion plans throughout the island of Ireland.’
The process followed at All-Tex Recyclers
Presses
What happens to the items of clothing, household textiles and paired shoes after All-Tex Recyclers collect them?
All-Tex Recyclers believe first and foremost that the optimum solution is to re-use those clothes somewhere in the world for re-wear but, if their condition is not suitable, then they will be directed to the specialised re-spinning and pulling mills in the North of England, Asia and East Africa for recycling or sold on to local businesses for industrial wiper cloth manufacture.
Paired Shoes
We are pro-active in seeking new markets for all our recyclables?
When a bag of used clothing and shoes is opened by one of the experienced clothing graders at All-Tex Recyclers they will make individual determinations on each item in the bag.
From this initial sort, items will be placed on the correct conveyor system taking them to a second sort belt where other belt operatives break the clothing down into definitive grades. The first of these is usually the recycling grade which would include most items unfit for re-wear, clothes that are stained, torn or generally worn out.
The selected clothing is sorted on a conveyor belt and sub divided again into categories like woollens (to be re-spun back into textiles) or Flock (a heavy wool product for roof insulation or carpet underlay). These goods are then pressed into 400kg bales for shipment to mills in the North of England or overseas.
Cottons unsuitable for re-wear are mostly sold to local businesses involved in the manufacturing of industrial wiping and polishing cloths.
Included in our collections each year are up to 60 tonnes of cardboard and plastic bags which we also extract for recycling. We constantly monitor our own waste stream for recyclables in an effort to divert as much away from landfill as possible.
The next grading operation is usually a separation of the light weight and heavier winter clothing for different climates around the world.
At this point also, all trousers and shirts are hand sorted on their own dedicated conveyor and table system before being machine strapped into packs of ten prior to baling.
Depending on which country and climate the clothes are most suited to, they will then be either fine graded on a table or go through another conveyor system for final sort. Specially trained conveyor belt operatives at this point will hand pick each item and place it in the correct sorting bin.
After all that, our quality checkers will still make an inspection of each tub or sack of material determining grading accuracy, quality and correct weight before the material is directed to the appropriate baling press or sack filling station and onwards for immediate loading or to be held as stock which is often the case with heavy winter clothing collected in summer.
Shoes and handbags are sorted in yet another department of the factory where they are initially paired up and then categorised into different grades. Finding all the pairs can sometimes be difficult (it really helps if charity shops or public donations ensure shoes are tied or taped together) and different processes are used to minimise wastage in this part of the operation. Shoes cannot be baled so the finished product is usually shipped in a 30kg polypropylene sack in a specific grade or in a climate dictated mix (winter or summer).
The bales/sacks are loaded onto either deep sea shipping containers for worldwide customers or freighted by road and sea to U.K. and Eastern European locations. All-Tex Recyclers have extensive experience in all aspects of shipping and freight forwarding and can help you secure the best rates for your shipments if required. We are fully conversant with all relevant government inspection agencies such as Cotecna or Bureau veritas which are now obligatory for most shipments. Full fumigation facilities are also available onsite at Belfast or Dublin ports.