Turning Dreams (and Waste) Into Gold: Witnessing the Textile Revolution at Spinning Jenny
Turning Dreams (and Waste) Into Gold: Witnessing the Textile Revolution at Spinning Jenny
We’ve gone from old clothes to fluffy fibre, and now, we’ve hit the industrial sweet spot: transforming that fibre into beautiful, durable yarn at Spinning Jenny in Nijverdal. Honestly, walking onto that factory floor felt like seeing the future of textiles come to life!
Capital, Courage, and the Quest for Quality
This isn't just any factory; it's the result of one founder’s incredible, almost renegade spirit. Paula told us how she’d realised that old machines and research wasn't enough to solve the crisis—they needed scale, they needed real industry. So, she quit their old job and put all her knowledge into one audacious mission: opening a state-of-the-art spinning mill.
It wasn't easy! her vision only truly kicked off with a massive €3.2 million starting subsidy (plus further impact loans!). That kind of capital isn't just money; it's belief in a mission. It’s what allowed her to build one of the most modern mills in Europe, making sure the recycled yarn coming out is top-tier.
The Magic of the Machine
The challenge with recycled textiles is that the fibres are shorter—a nightmare for traditional spinning! But Spinning Jenny has cracked the code with OE (Open End) or rotor spinning technology. Watching these colossal machines whirl and weave the short, fluffy recycled material into strong, quality yarn for apparel and even the automotive sector was genuinely hypnotic. It’s a stunning industrial answer to the problem of fast fashion waste!
The best part? It’s a clean operation. Local, run on over 1,000 solar panels, and they use zero water, dyes, or chemicals in the process.
The numbers are simply jaw-dropping. For every 100 kilograms of yarn they spin, they report saving an estimated 11,000 litres of water and 1,100 kilograms of CO₂. Forget abstract goals—that’s tangible, measurable climate action you can feel!
Our Zero Selby’s Takeaway
What we took away from this amazing visit is that to achieve true circularity, you need guts and investment. Spinning Jenny is the industrial blueprint that shows us what’s possible. It’s a loud, clear message: we must prioritise the integrated, high-tech infrastructure right here in the UK to turn our ambition into industrial reality!
For more information on our trip to the Netherlands, read our blog series or watch our v-log series and check out our social media. If you’d like to read our report on our trip you can view this here, and if you’d like to help us level up the support from the Government for change in the waste and recycling industry, please do pass our High-level report to your local MP and ask them to push the movement forward.
For more information on our Shop for the Future project, read our news article or take a look at our page here.