Recutex: Leading Textile Recycling and Export Specialists

Company overview

Recutex NV has been sorting and exporting second-hand clothing since 1948, which makes it one of the oldest continuously operating textile sorters in Europe. The plant is at Waregemstraat 148 in Zulte, Belgium, in the Flemish textile belt between Ghent and Kortrijk, and the group employs more than 150 people locally.

Seventy-five years in the same trade shows up in the numbers rather than in the marketing. The site processes more than 60,000 kilograms of textiles a day and around 1,600,000 kilograms a month, with storage capacity for over 5,000,000 kilograms. That warehouse depth is the part buyers should notice: a sorter holding five million kilos can hold a grade back and wait for the right price instead of pushing everything out the door, which is what keeps grading honest across a season.

Where the material goes

Recutex publishes its own split of what happens to the intake, and it is unusually specific:

• Up to 73% is reused as clothing
• About 22% gets a second life as a recycling product
• The remaining 5% goes to energy recovery as high-calorific waste

That adds to a 95% recovery rate with nothing landfilled. For a wholesale buyer this is more than an environmental statistic. A 73% wearable share tells you the intake is good quality collection rather than end-of-line residue, and it tells you the company has real outlets for the other 27%, so it has no reason to slip unwearable pieces into a clothing bale to move volume.

Certification and compliance

Recutex holds OVAM certification as a collector and transporter of textile waste, which is the Flemish public waste agency's registration and a hard requirement for legal collection in the region. On top of that the company runs ISO 9001 for quality management and ISO 14001 for environmental management.

The combination is what matters. OVAM covers the legality of the input, ISO 9001 covers the repeatability of the sorting decision, and ISO 14001 covers how the residue is handled. Buyers who have to answer supply-chain questions from their own customers can point at all three. Most second hand clothes suppliers can produce one of them; few produce the set.

What Belgian sorting means for the grade

Belgium sits in the middle of the densest textile-collection region in Europe. Material collected in Flanders, the Netherlands and northern France reaches a Zulte plant within hours, which means less handling, less compression damage and a shorter gap between collection and grading than a plant buying imported original bags experiences.

Belgian and Dutch collection also has a specific character: strong on outerwear, durable knitwear and mid-market European brands, lighter on the fast-fashion churn that dominates some other streams. Buyers used to English original should expect a different mix rather than a better or worse one. As always, the letters on the bale mean whatever the sorter says they mean, so read the underlying grades definitions before you compare a Belgian quote against a British one.

Export reach

Recutex exports to more than 75 countries. A distribution list that wide is a signal about consistency: markets in Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia each want a different category weighting, and a sorter that serves all of them simultaneously has to run enough parallel lines to make those splits without disturbing each other.

For a European wholesaler the practical implication is negotiating leverage in reverse. You are not the only buyer for the grade you want, and a plant at this scale will not restructure a line for a single small order. What it can do is give you a consistent product month after month, which is worth more to a shop than a one-off bargain. Buyers building a steady programme of sorting-house supply should approach a plant like this with an annual volume in mind rather than a single container.

Contact and how to start

Recutex NV is at Waregemstraat 148, 9870 Zulte, Belgium. The company can be reached on +32 56 60 29 77 and at [email protected]. Leadership includes CEO Thomas T'Jollyn and COO Tom Gobert.

A first approach should establish three things: which categories are currently strongest in the intake, what the defect rule is for each grade in writing, and what minimum order the plant will accept for a trial. Buyers sourcing wholesale second hand from several countries at once will find the Belgian option competitive on transit time into Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, and worth a direct comparison against Dutch and German sorters serving the same corridor.

Frequently asked questions

How long has Recutex been in business?

Recutex NV has sorted and exported second-hand clothing since 1948, making it one of Europe's longest-running textile sorting operations.

How much does Recutex process?

The Zulte plant handles more than 60,000 kilograms of textiles per day and roughly 1,600,000 kilograms per month, with storage for over 5,000,000 kilograms.

What share of the intake is resold as clothing?

Up to 73% is reused as clothing, about 22% becomes a recycling product and the remaining 5% goes to energy recovery, for a 95% recovery rate overall.

Which certifications does Recutex hold?

The company is OVAM-certified as a collector and transporter of textile waste and holds ISO 9001 for quality management and ISO 14001 for environmental management.

How many countries does Recutex export to?

Recutex exports to more than 75 countries worldwide from its plant in Zulte, Belgium.