At its annual Enterprise Day held on May 29, the Sanli Group showcased an intelligent old-clothing recycling machine that combines AI algorithms with near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy technology. Chairman Zhang Ronghua and General Manager Gao Minghui were present to observe the technology, which is billed as Taiwan's first of its kind for old-clothing recycling.

According to Liu Yaoda, CEO of Peide Sustainability Technology, the system uses AI plus NIR spectroscopy to identify garment materials within one second, distinguishing polyester, nylon, or blended fabrics. The collected old clothes then enter a back-end process where, after shredding, lead removal, and other treatments, they are rewoven into yarn and made into fabric, which then returns to clothing or other finished products, forming a cradle-to-cradle closed loop.

In conjunction with Enterprise Day, Sanli's sustainability office SET FUTURE launched an "Old Clothes Recycling Points Exchange" campaign: employees who donate two or more old garments and successfully recycle them can redeem a NT$500 physical Enterprise Day voucher. During the campaign, all employees donated about 4,265 old garments in total. Wang Ruoting, Deputy CEO of Sustainability at Sanli Group, said this is not just an Enterprise Day event but the starting point of a complete cycle; after being decomposed and remade by Peide, this batch of old clothes will become eco-friendly gifts when Sanli participates in the Sustainability Expo at the end of August, allowing the concept of the circular economy to meet the outside world in a concrete way.

Huang Shijie, host of "Up Mountains and Down Seas," also tried it out early. Recalling his past experience with old-clothing recycling, he said he used to simply sort out clothes he did not wear often and toss the whole bag into the old-clothing recycling bin downstairs, but later he heard too much news about these garments' unclear subsequent whereabouts and did not know how they were ultimately used.

This machine upgrades traditional recycling into high-value circularity, with the goal of zero waste and zero landfill. For the old-clothing recycling industry, its highlight lies in applying AI recognition and near-infrared spectroscopy to rapid material sorting, providing a reference technical path for the precise separation and re-spinning of blended old garments.

Source: Sanli Enterprise Day Introduces AI Black Technology: From Cradle to Cradle, Old Clothes Gain New Life | Sustainability ESG | SETN.COM · Originally published 2026-09-28