Business

Recycling High On Rieter’s Innovation List

For Rieter, as for almost all exhibitors at India ITME 2022, the show was beyond expectations. The company received a good mix of technical experts and decision makers from textile companies from across the country. Rieter this time showcased not just the machines, but how its machines can help the industry target niche markets, and move into high value products and applications. According to Prasanta Kumar Deka, Market India, Rieter Group, “Recycling technology was much in demand at this show. Rieter is currently working on recycling, sustainability. In fact, our innovation pipeline is all about digitalisation and recycling. So as we develop these two processes, it will demand some changes in the machines and equipment too.” He further stated, “Many brands are demanding garments made of recycled material, and not just from pre- consumer materials, but also post-consumer materials. This is not easy in ring spinning, in open end many are doing it. However, in OE spinning, you cannot do a wide range of counts, upto 40s or so. And produce tshirts, applications are limited. So we are working heavily on introducing recycled fibres into ring spinning. It may take another year or so for us to perfect the technology.” The potential and demand for recycled materials is so high that Deka believes that in the next five-six years, this technology could become a major revenue contributor. “In fact, we keep telling our customers to start with recycled yarns with rotor spinning, as this will give them a feel of the production process, as we know this will be future.” And is Rieter planning to expand production in India, given the fast changing geopolitical situation. “There are discussions around this, but no fixed plan yet. India is becoming more and more convenient destination for future expansions. Our current production model may have to be revisited, given that logistics, transportation is becoming a nightmare. A lot will also depend on the Indian government’s policy for textile machinery manufacturers.”