ReCircled & Avery Dennison: Maximizing end-of-life services

Avery Dennison’s pilot with ReCircled shows how RFID-tagged garments enable sorting to scale, delivering near-perfect accuracy, dramatic efficiency gains, and unlocking value that can more than offset implementation costs.

Avery Dennison’s pilot with ReCircled confirms how an RFID-enabled system can accurately and automatically capture the data needed to handle garments at scale, without the usual friction.

The pilot’s quantified efficiency gains were dramatic. RFID reduced scanning labor hours by 95.9% for one major brand, and 99.9% for another, while consistently achieving 99% accuracy compared to manual accuracy rates of 89% and 72%, respectively. 

A powerful conclusion is that the initial cost of implementing an RFID-enabled integrated solution could be more than offset by the increased value recovered through more efficient processing and maximized duty drawback claims.

ReCircled is a global leader in designing and implementing circular programs for the apparel and footwear industry. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, USA, it has facilities in Nebraska, and also Barcelona in Spain. The company provides the tools and infrastructure brands need for carbon footprint reduction, through textile recycling. ReCircled will assess and take apparel apart (removing buttons, zippers, etc.) to break down the fabric into raw fibers, which are then used to create new yarn or products.

Against a backdrop of growing demand for its sorting services, ReCircled aimed to overcome the cost and operational inefficiencies of manual product identification. Another challenge faced was that slow manual sorting can impede processing accuracy for end-of-life garments.

To confront these challenges head-on, ReCircled partnered with Avery Dennison to evaluate the benefits of a digitally-enabled solution. The project was designed to directly compare the existing, error-prone manual processing of end-of-life garments against a streamlined workflow leveraging Avery Dennison’s RFID-enabled integrated solution.

The solution combines Avery Dennison’s embedded RFID sensor technology, RFID hardware, and the atma.io connected product cloud platform to capture, store, manage, and share garment life cycle data.

Working with two major global brands, the project's core objective was to quantify the impact of assigning a unique digital identity to each item. By embedding products with RFID tags, ReCircled and Avery Dennison aimed to demonstrate how automation could:

• Drastically reduce the labor hours and associated costs of sorting and identification.

• Eliminate human error to achieve near perfect data accuracy.

• Unlock new value by enabling efficient processing for high-value streams like duty  drawback claims.

Data from the pilot confirmed that Avery Dennison’s RFID-enabled integrated solution offered staggering benefits over manual processes in terms of efficiency and accuracy.

The ability to automate data capture and provide more comprehensive information led to significant time savings and precision, making it a superior solution for end-of-life processing where cost reduction was a key goal. Specifically:

• RFID reduced labor hours associated with scanning by 95.9% for one major apparel  brand and an incredible 99.9% for another brand.

• Furthermore, RFID achieved a near-perfect 99% accuracy rate, a notable improvement over the 89% and 72% accuracy of manual methods.

• The technology enabled the identification of individual items and captured additional data like Electronic Product Code (EPC) for material weight, crucial for external reporting requirements.

• The pilot project showed the impact of RFID and how it can unlock new value streams such as pursuing significant Duty Drawback compensation on damaged or unsold goods at a fraction of the traditional labor cost.

ReCircled demonstrated a clear, data-backed path to a more efficient, profitable, and sustainable future for fashion. The economic case for RFID implementation was clearly established, with processing cost savings offsetting initial technology investment.

The primary barrier that remains is the widespread adoption of integrated digital triggers by brands at the point of manufacture. By embedding a unique digital identity into every garment from the start, brands can ensure that their products are equipped for a circular journey. This foundational data is the key to unlocking the full potential of recycling, resale, and other sustainable end-of-life options.

Download Avery Dennison’s White Paper: RFID for Circularity here.