Resortecs and the EIC Accelerator: Clothes That Come Apart

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.

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.

What 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.

1. Automated thermal disassemblyDeliveredUp to 90% recovery.
2. Industrial pilots with brandsDeliveredPilots reported, per CORDIS.
3. Operating disassembly hubsNot yetPlanned by 2027.
4. 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.

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.

The Verdict

Resortecs has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on company statements and EU project data, linked throughout.