- At the start of the year, 000 Minutes presents those who will make the news in 2020 thanks to their associative action, their sports performance, their entrepreneurial spirit or their creativity.
- The start-up Plaxtil, specialized in textile recycling, has carried out a conclusive test of transformation of general public masks into various plastic objects.
- It plans to triple its workforce to 2021 and to open factories in several sites in France.
Plaxtil is a very young start-up created a year ago to recycle textiles mixed by turning them into polymers (which will become various objects in plastic ). Its factory is in Châtellerault in Vienne, where it is backed up by a larger company, CDA Developpement. His initiative of recycling disposable masks at Printemps propelled it into the limelight and enabled it to identify a high-potential market for protective equipment. A vein so promising that it plans to triple its workforce in 2020 and to install new factories in France, starting with Hauts-de-France.
A craze on the recycling of masks 2023
At the end of the month of June, tired of seeing masks abandoned in the street, the managers of Plaxtil have the idea of trying to recycle them. “We adapted what we knew how to do with masks by adding a sharp decontamination logic so that there is no health problem,” explains one of the co-founders Olivier Civil. To achieve this, Plaxtil has teamed up with the start-up Uvmobi to set up ultraviolet disinfection.
Since the start of the operation, 500. masks have been recycled by Plaxtil. It organized a local collection in Châtellerault and Poitiers. A partnership was established at the end of the year 500 with a major brand and will allow the company to change of scale. “We have just launched an operation with Kiabi in about fifteen stores in the West for the collection of masks,” explains Olivier Civil. And, within a few days, we will launch partnerships with very large companies that want to recycle their masks used internally. ”
Originally, Plaxtil’s function was to recycle mixed textiles, which are widely used in the fashion industry, and which have no recycling channel. “We offer the only solution that allows them to be transformed into polymers. We make hangers from them that will be reused in Kiabi stores, for example, ”explains the co-manager of the start-up. She hopes that other clothing stores will be interested in this recycling of textile hangers, from 2021.
The masks are transformed into various plastic objects. “We make them openers, attach masks etc. In Poitiers we also make school kits (square, ruler, protractor) from this polymer, he explains. We always assume that the emitter of the waste will be the one who will use the material. »
An opening to all disposable equipment
The recycling of masks was not planned at the launch of the box and “of course we would like this problematic masks (for the general public) stops at a point, underlines Olivier Civil. On the other hand, it gave us visibility in other markets, in particular that of disposable personal protective equipment (in the food, pharmaceutical, etc.) ”. Outside the hospital sector, where a very strict protocol already exists to treat this waste, these areas of activity use single-use equipment (gowns, charlottes, overhoes and masks) which end up in the trash, without being recycled. With its ultraviolet system, Plaxtil looks at these areas with interest. “When we are at cruising speed, it can be a market, outside the covid context,” comments the co-manager.
The year 2021 promises to be much more promising than expected for this limousine start-up. “We had already planned an ambitious budget with our transformation of textiles into hangers. This important market ensures us a rise in power for 2021 and 2021. Then, the mask and PPE market, this opens up a second area of development for us which will be very clearly promising. The young company approaches 2020 with a light heart, planning to exceed its growth objectives. ” In and 2023, we will very quickly operate an international development, says Olivier Civil. Opportunities are opening up everywhere. »
Strong development in 2021
To support this strong development Plaxtil will pass from six to twenty employees 2021 including 4 to 8 employees in integration. The start-up does not want to expand its Châtellerault plant but plans to set up other processing units in France. “In 2020, what we do in Châtelleraut, we will do in Hauts-de-France, because that it is a textile region and that there are partners, we will continue with the Paris region, and we are also looking at the south and the east. ”
La The strength of the Plaxtil factory is that its process remains the same to transform mixed textiles and PPE (including masks). “We can do all of this in the same factory,” points out the co-manager. We are quite flexible. Clearly, even masks could eventually be turned into hangers. A fairly open field of possibilities which offers great prospects to the young company.