About us
Origin Métisse® insulation
In 2005 Vernooij Textile Recyclers and Le Relais started the development of an insulation material from old clothing and introduced it in the French market in 2007. Three years later the Métisse® insulation is introduced in The Netherlands and Belgium by VRK Isolatie & Akoestiek. VRK is formed by a collaboration between Vernooij Textile Recyclers, Le Relais and KICK Foundation (now Sympany). In the meantime VRK supplies Métisse® to many European countries. Le Relais takes care of the production of Métisse® and has built a completely new factory in 2012.
Collecting & sorting clothes
The shareholders of VRK isolatie & Akoestiek have all been involved in the textile industry for many years. They collect and sort clothing. The collection of the clothes takes place, among other things, by means of clothing containers in various municipalities, door-to-door collections and textiles from companies. Sorting is mainly done by people with a disadvantage on the labor market. The re-wearable clothing is kept in circulation as long as possible to extend its lifespan. Only the non-wearable clothing are used for the production of Métisse® insulation. Previously the old clothes would have been dumped of burned. As a result, a beautiful and sustainable solutions is found for a waste stream.
Production
The production of Métisse® is located in the area of Lille (France). The collected clothes are torn apart, to keep the remaining fibers as long as possible. The composition and structure of Métisse® (long cotton fibers) guarantee an excellent thermal and acoustic performance. After this, all buttons and zippers are removed from the clothes. The fibers are threated with mineral fire retardant. The cotton is then fused together with recycled polyester (also from collected clothing) in an oven. This fusion takes place at 110°C, where traditional insulation materials have to heat up from 600°C to 1200°C. Finally the insulation is packed in package with plates or rolled up as roll.
