German Design Award 2026
Technical textiles made from RECOSYS® rPET
Sustainability meets design — without compromise. KURZ proves this with its technical textiles made from RECOSYS® rPET, a 100% single-grade post-industrial recyclate (PIR). This development sets pioneering impulses for industries and markets and has been recognized by the jury of the German Design Award with Gold in the category Excellent Product Design and the subcategory Material & Surfaces.
Requirements
Technical textiles must meet the highest standards — including those regarding their ecological footprint. In the automotive industry, for example, the EU requires that up to 25% of the plastic in new vehicles must come from recycled materials in the future. At the same time, manufacturers and brand owners are raising their expectations for modern surfaces: brand identity, quality, and design are merging.
This is exactly where RECOSYS® rPET comes in: we combine responsible material cycles with design that opens new possibilities — uniting function, responsibility, and aesthetics.
Solution
In the RECOSYS® 2.0 recycling process, used PET transfer carriers are processed into RECOSYS® rPET granules. These are used to create a yarn that serves as the basis for technical textiles in the automotive sector and many other industries — a material that perfectly combines function and aesthetics.
This convinced the jury
- rPET can contribute to reducing the CO2 footprint
- Reliable, predictable availability
- Transparent origin
- Regional value creation
- Dyeable and processable like virgin material — with full design freedom
- Full recyclability remains intact
- No need for virgin material
- Versatile applications
