Avery Dennison RFID Pilot Triples Textile Sorting to 60 Items per Minute
AVY•Avery Dennison and TEXAID’s RFID pilot embedded tags into 300 garments and achieved 60 items per minute throughput—nearly triple the 22-per-minute manual rate. The trial maintained 99.9% identification accuracy on mixed-fibre and black textiles while testing compliance with EU textile waste collection mandates.
1. Pilot Implementation
The pilot project embedded RFID tags supplied by Avery Dennison into 300 selected garments spanning multiple fibre types. Testing took place at Valvan’s Sorting Lab after upgrading existing sorting machinery with additional RFID scanning hardware and software to simulate real-world operational scenarios.
2. Performance Outcomes
Automated RFID-enabled sorting reached 60 garments per minute, almost three times the manual sorting rate of 22 per minute. The system sustained up to 99.9% identification accuracy on challenging items like black or mixed-fibre textiles and integrated each garment’s data with TEXAID’s product database for detailed tracking.
3. Regulatory and Market Implications
New EU rules require separate textile waste collection from 2025, significantly increasing post-consumer volumes processed by collectors and sorters. This pilot positions Avery Dennison’s RFID technology as a scalable solution for recyclers seeking greater speed, accuracy and traceability in response to stricter waste regulations.
