Soex Group, engaged in collecting, marketing and recycling used textiles, will be starting its operations from Hamriyah Free Zone (HFZ), UAE, by the middle of 2017.

The Northern Germany-based company has leased 322,917 sq ft in the enclave and will be starting construction work on the new plant as soon as possible, said Saud Salim Al Mazrouei, director of HFZ and the Sharjah Airport International Free Zone.

Axel Buchholz, managing director of the Soex Group, said commercial operations would hopefully begin by mid-2017. He and Al Mazrouie signed a lease agreement for the plot.  

The Soex Group has been giving used textiles a new lease of life for more than 35 years. Founded in 1977, the company has sites and shareholdings in 5 countries and more than 1,000 employees today.

Buchholz, said the company would invest 5 million euros for the project and has plans to export 50 per cent of its products to African countries and 25 per cent each to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The facility will employ staff of 300 to 400.

This is the company’s first venture in the UAE.

“Zero waste is our philosophy and we follow it by retaining 100 per cent of used textiles in the product cycle, thus preserving natural resources and the environment,” said Buchholz.

“We do not reject, we grade and sort – until there is nothing left to sort. The highest priority in this is the prevention of waste, which is why the wearable clothing is marketed in over 90 countries worldwide. This grants clothing a new lease of life, preserves resources and eases the burden on the environment,” he elaborated.

Al Mazrouie reaffirmed the HFZ’s commitment to giving its customers the best possible infrastructure to support their growth aspirations.

“This step will enable them to grow in the region and we see this development as another example of our efforts to empower businesses paying off,” he said.

Goods collected and recognised they can no longer be worn are processed into cleaning cloths and others are processed into insulation material at the company’s recycling facilities. Soex’s products include items for the automobile industry. Dust generated in the manufacture of insulation materials is pressed into dust briquettes and used in the paper industry. What cannot be used or recycled is disposed of appropriately, the company says. 

“The Soex Group works with its partners and the textile industry towards a future without wasted resources and in which production of raw materials, manufacturing and re-use are effective, sustainable and profitable for everyone,” a company statement said.

The Soex Group is the world’s largest textile sorting and recycling entity, with processing and distribution outlets all over the world. Over 1,000 tonnes of textiles, clothing and shoes and accessories are multi-level sorted every day to over 400 grades.

Currently 62 per cent of all collected product is re-wearable, 32 per cent is remanufactured into thousands of different products and 6 per cent is reutilised either as a product in manufacturing or as a promising source of energy.