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The Valerius 360 factory – the cornerstone of the circular economy project of the group led by José Manuel Vilas Boas Ferreira – shall be operational by this early autumn.
The new unit will employ 80 people and will be located in Mindelo, Vila do Conde. The Project 360 by the Valerius group has a global budget of 20 million euro.
“Since past September that we have a team focused solely on perfecting this process, carrying out tests in Germany, France and Switzerland. They are learning which blades are the ideal for the grinding machines, whether the best angle is 90 or 65 degrees. They are also figuring out how will we assemble the spinning mills and how to do the weaving – because recycled yarn cannot spin at the same speed as a traditional one”, explains the president of the Valerius group.
José Manuel Vilas Boas Ferreira has very well defined goals and chronology. In September he already wants recycled items in the collection. And every year that goes by, he expects to raise the sales of recycled products by 25%.
“We know exactly what we’re doing. In 2017, when we started the project 360, everyone said it was very interesting, but deep down they found it somewhat absurd. Now everybody has realised that this is the right path to take and that it’s a disruptive project, which ultimately must happen”, adds Vilas Boas Ferreira.
The President of the Valerius group sees project 360 as a legacy: “at the end of the great trip that is this project I hope to leave a legacy – of having made possible that Portugal becomes a producer of raw material for the textile industry”.