In October 2024, Ecollant, which became REC in late 2025, won first place in the 2024 WeImpact Competition – Decarbonisation Challenge, organised by G.A.C. Group. This recognition highlighted our innovation in recycling nylon from complex textiles and our ambition to contribute to the decarbonisation of the textile industry.
Ecollant Wins the WeImpact Competition – Decarbonisation Challenge
In 2024, our project to recycle nylon and polyamide from complex textiles was selected as a finalist in the WeImpact Competition – Decarbonisation Challenge. Organised by G.A.C. Group, with the support of partners including Bpifrance, Grant Thornton France, Vianeo, GreenAge, IPSILON and C2E, the competition aimed to showcase companies, research organisations and associations developing innovative initiatives for the environment, society and local communities.
For Ecollant, being selected represented valuable recognition of the work carried out to address a major industrial and environmental challenge: how can the nylon contained in end-of-life complex textiles be recovered and transformed into a new raw material? And the outcome was particularly rewarding: Ecollant won first place in the competition. G.A.C. Group continues to recognise Ecollant as the 2024 winner of the Decarbonisation Challenge.
An innovative process for recycling nylon from complex textiles
At the time, Ecollant was developing a technology designed to address a major challenge in textile recycling: recovering value from multi-material garments. Some textiles combine nylon, or polyamide, with other fibers, particularly elastane. This combination makes fiber separation particularly complex and limits recycling options using conventional processes.
Our ambition was therefore to develop a solution capable of recovering the nylon contained in these multi-material garments while preserving a level of quality compatible with new industrial applications. It was precisely this innovative approach that G.A.C. Group highlighted in its presentation of the competition: the process developed by Ecollant was designed to extract nylon from multi-material garments with a view to reintegrating it into the textile industry.
Today, this ambition continues under the name REC, with an industrial strategy focused on recycling polyamide from complex textiles and materials.
Discover REC’s technology and industrial ambitions.
The final at the Bpifrance Hub
The final of the WeImpact Competition was held on 3 October 2024 at the Bpifrance Hub. The event brought together stakeholders committed to climate transition and innovation for decarbonisation. The evening featured contributions from Nicolas Dufourcq, CEO of Bpifrance, and Christophe Boytchev, Chairman of G.A.C. Group. Following several stages of selection, the finalists had the opportunity to present their projects in front of the jury.
We were delighted to pitch alongside two other particularly committed projects:
- ENTENT, represented by Mathias Fonlupt;
- OCTOMETHA, represented by Vincent Bachet.
The three projects addressed different environmental challenges, but shared the same ambition: developing technological solutions capable of reducing the environmental impact of human activities.
First place recognising an industrial innovation
The verdict was particularly rewarding for our team: Ecollant won first place in the 2024 WeImpact Competition – Decarbonisation Challenge. This distinction was an important recognition for a company at the development stage, validating both the relevance of the challenge we were addressing and the interest in our technological solution.
It also strengthened our determination to transform a Deeptech project into an industrial solution capable of contributing to the decarbonisation and circularity of the textile industry. The award included support from G.A.C. Group and/or partners within its ecosystem, as well as support from Bpifrance through its Accelerator programmes.
For a company entering the industrial development phase, this type of support is particularly valuable. The challenge is no longer simply to demonstrate that a technology works. It also involves addressing its industrialisation, business model, partnerships, sourcing, market opportunities and scale-up.
A masterclass dedicated to climate transition
In addition to the final and award ceremony, the evening featured a masterclass addressing an essential question: “How can France accelerate its climate transition by 2030?”
The discussion brought together several experts in climate transition and decarbonisation:
- Anne-Sophie Marin, ESG Director / Climate Plan Capital Development at Bpifrance;
- Thomas Rialan, co-founder of Carbon Cutter;
- Yamina Saheb, founder and CEO of OpenExp and contributor to the work of the IPCC;
- Brigitte Roeser-Herlin, Senior Advisor at METRON and member of French Tech 2030’s Climate Tech community.
The discussions explored the transformation of companies, emissions reduction and the development of solutions capable of accelerating the climate transition. These discussions strongly resonate with our approach: recycling existing materials can help reduce dependence on virgin resources and support the development of more circular industrial models.
Nylon recycling and decarbonisation: why are these challenges connected?
Polyamide recycling is part of a broader transformation of industrial models. When an existing material can be recovered, regenerated and reintroduced into a new production cycle, it can help reduce reliance on virgin resources.
For complex textiles containing polyamide, the challenge is therefore to develop solutions capable of recovering material that is currently difficult to valorise and giving it a new industrial application. This is one of REC’s ambitions: to contribute to creating a circular loop for polyamide by transforming textile waste into recycled raw materials for industry.
Thank you to the organisers and the “architects” of sustainability
A huge thank you to G.A.C. Group, Bpifrance and all the partners of the WeImpact Competition for this recognition and for the support provided to the winners. Thank you also to the jury for its trust, and congratulations to ENTENT and OCTOMETHA, the two other winners of the 2024 edition.
Finally, thank you to everyone we met during the evening and to all the “architects” of sustainability who, each in their own way, are helping drive the transition forward.
In 2024, this victory recognised the Ecollant project.
In 2026, as REC, we are pursuing the same ambition: industrialising polyamide recycling and transforming today’s waste into resources for tomorrow’s industry.
The journey continues.
