Most clothes are hard to recycle because zips, buttons, labels and mixed fabrics have to be cut out by hand first. Resortecs, a Brussels company registered as Regeneration BV, makes Smart Stitch, a sewing thread that melts at high temperature, so that the parts of a garment fall apart in an oven and the fabric can be recycled.
The European Innovation Council granted €2,500,000 towards a €4.77 million project that ran from November 2022 to October 2025. According to the CORDIS report, automated thermal disassembly achieved "material recovery rates of up to 90%", against 45% by hand, but "further work is needed", including "deploying the first Smart Disassembly hubs". In November 2025 Resortecs raised €6 million with the EIC Fund among its lead investors, aiming to process 3,000 tonnes a year by 2027.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Regeneration BV (Resortecs), Belgium
- CEO
- Cédric Vanhoeck, co-founder
- Products
- Smart Stitch heat-dissolvable thread; Smart Disassembly lines
- Brand pilots
- Bershka (Inditex), Decathlon's Wedze, HNST
- Partners
- AMANN Group (thread production), BekaertDeslee, Sioen
- Investors
- Goldwin Play Earth Fund, SFPIM, EIC Fund, ScaleFund, finance&invest.brussels and others
- EIC project
- Resortecs, 1 Nov 2022 to 31 Oct 2025
- EIC funding
- Blended finance; EIC Fund in the 2025 Series A
Where Resortecs Stands Today
The November 2025 Series A was led by the Goldwin Play Earth Fund, the venture arm of the Japanese apparel maker Goldwin, the Belgian federal investment company SFPIM and the EIC Fund, to "complete development of continuous industrial disassembly lines" and build five lines across Europe within five years. In April 2026 Resortecs partnered with AMANN Group, which it calls "one of the top three sewing thread manufacturers in the world", and in September 2026 it said Smart Stitch is "now produced by AMANN Group" and extended its use to repair, delabelling and component recovery. It has also announced work with the mattress maker BekaertDeslee and a workwear consortium with Sioen.
The Technology: Thread That Melts on Cue
Smart Stitch threads melt at a set temperature, so a garment sewn with them can be heated and its parts separated automatically. In the Decathlon ski jacket launched in December 2022, the threads "melt and disappear when exposed to temperatures above 190°C", freeing zips, press studs and elastic from the polyester. CORDIS reports that automated disassembly "can be profitable at return rates below 1%" of products, and the company now says brands can "make a profit by collecting as little as 9%" of their production.
"By building several decentralised pre-processing plants across Europe within the next five years, we enable local, plug-and-play solutions."
Cédric Vanhoeck, co-founder and CEO of Resortecs, November 2025What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The project promised to solve "the challenge of multi-material garment recycling with thermal disassembly". CORDIS reports industrial pilots with major brands, including "a leading global bedding manufacturer", and the recovery rates above, but no tonnes processed and no operating disassembly hub. Those hubs are what the 2025 Series A is meant to build.
- Automated thermal disassemblyDeliveredUp to 90% recovery.
- Industrial pilots with brandsDeliveredPilots reported, per CORDIS.
- Operating disassembly hubsNot yetPlanned by 2027.
- Follow-on capitalDelivered€6M with the EIC Fund.
What Has Happened Since the Award
The Money
Resortecs raised €2.2 million in seed funding in April 2023, led by ScaleFund and finance&invest.brussels, which with the EIC grant it counted as €4.7 million. The €6 million Series A followed in November 2025. The EIC Fund's share of that round and Resortecs' revenue are not disclosed.
What cannot be checked
How many tonnes Resortecs has disassembled, how many brands pay for Smart Stitch, and how much the EIC Fund invested are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
The EIC backed a Belgian company working on one of the practical obstacles to textile recycling: getting non-recyclable parts off garments. The EU was both grant-giver and, through the EIC Fund, a lead investor in the next round.
What the project promised
A solution to multi-material garment recycling through thermal disassembly.
What the record shows
Up to 90% recovery in pilots, brand projects and a €6M Series A; the first industrial hubs are still to come.
The Verdict
Proven in pilots, scaling next
The EIC project showed that thermal disassembly works and can pay. Whether Resortecs reaches 3,000 tonnes a year by 2027 will decide if it becomes industry infrastructure or stays a pilot technology.
Resortecs has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on company statements and EU project data, linked throughout.
