Coleo

Coleo is a Spanish textile recycling company that focuses on repurposing discarded yarn and fabrics into recycled fiber and then yarn, which is woven into fabric. The company uses 3D prototyping and digital processes to convert textile waste, which it sources from households, manufacturers, and retailers in the industry. Coleo’s process also involves an automated textile sorting process with artificial vision technology and NIR (near-infrared) spectroscopy technology that determines chemical composition. In addition, Coleo’s textile classification software is powered by blockchain tools to trace the origins and composition-color variations to optimize waste preparation for the recycling process. 

As of October 2023, Coleo’s in-house factory and showroom in Barcelona carry out sampling and prototyping for recycled textile projects for businesses. In 2020, the company also opened a textile sorting plant in A Coruña, Spain.

Key customers and partnerships

Coleo collaborates with Recovo to produce five types of 100% recycled fabrics from textile waste and sell them in the latter’s online marketplace. To strengthen its sorting process, in May 2023, the company entered into a joint venture named Wastex with Picvisa , a technology firm supplying sorting machines, to streamline textile waste sorting for reuse, recycling, and upcycling using the latter’s automated sorting solutions.

In October 2023, Coleo also partnered with Debrand to produce circular lanyards made with 50% recycled cotton and 50% recycled PES (polyester) for the 2023 Textile Exchange Conference in London, UK, aiming to reduce waste at conferences.