SOEX
SOEX is a privately-held German circular-textile operator (founded 1977) that collects, AI-sorts, recycles and re-sells used clothing and shoes for fashion brands, retailers, and industrial partners via facilities in Germany and the UAE and a network spanning 60+ countries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1977
- HeadquartersAhrensburg, Germany
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What SOEX does
SOEX Textil-Verwertungsgesellschaft m.b.H. is a privately-held German circular-textile operator founded in 1977 and headquartered in Ahrensburg, with major processing operations in Wolfen (Germany) and Sharjah Free Zone (United Arab Emirates). The group employs 1,001-5,000 staff across two mega-facilities and runs an international take-back network spanning more than 60 countries through its wholly-owned I:CO subsidiary. Its business spans the full re-use and recycling value chain for post-consumer and post-industrial textiles and footwear: collection (via charity partnerships, municipal street collection and the I:CO in-store retailer drop-off system), manual and automated sorting into 300+ categories, fiber-to-fiber and material recycling, and the wholesale re-commerce of graded second-hand goods into international markets.
The group's technological core is the proprietary "Sorting for Recycling" station at Wolfen - a fully automated, AI-driven NIR sorting line that recognizes more than 78 fiber types and material combinations at accuracy above 95%, processing roughly 1,600 garments per hour (≈600 kg) with a planned doubling of throughput. Alongside it, SOEX operates what it describes as the world's first industrial shoe-recycling plant, which disassembles footwear into separable streams of rubber, leather, foam, fabric and metal for downstream reuse; the company is ISO 9001 and ISO 50001 certified for its sorting operations.
SOEX generates revenue through four intertwined streams: (i) transaction-based re-commerce of sorted second-hand clothing and shoes, (ii) professional-services and processing fees charged to fashion retailers, brands and industrial partners for take-back, Re-Value (surplus/returns/defect handling) and Recycling services, (iii) hardware-style sales of secondary raw materials (recycled fibers for automotive and construction insulation, shoe component streams) and (iv) consulting engagements on circular-economy implementation. Major customers and partners include Mercedes-Benz AG, Tally Weijl, H&M, Mango, Jack & Jones, DBL Böge, plus a charitable-organization channel that monetizes donated textiles by kilogram. In FY2022 the group reported revenue of €60.4M, EBITDA of approximately €3M and a consolidated loss of €0.9M, following a multi-year restructuring from -€9.8M EBITDA in 2019.
SOEX firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SOEX
- Legal name
- SOEX Textil-Verwertungsgesellschaft m.b.H.
- Website
- https://soex.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1977
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- SOEX is a privately-held German circular-textile operator (founded 1977) that collects, AI-sorts, recycles and re-sells used clothing and shoes for fashion brands, retailers, and industrial partners via facilities in Germany and the UAE and a network spanning 60+ countries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SOEX industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Textile Recycling Services
- NAICS
- Textile Product Mills (314)
- SIC
- Textile Mill Products (2200), Wholesale-Apparel, Piece Goods & Notions (5130)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Post-Consumer Textile Collection & Sorting (Take-Back/Charity/Reverse Logistics) (IMAOAMAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Recycling Process Equipment & Automation (Sorting Tech/NIR/Robotics) (IMAOAMAG)
Keywords
Where SOEX is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ahrensburg
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices4 records
Markets served
SOEX business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Second-hand Textile Sales (Re-Commerce): Sale of sorted and graded second-hand clothing and shoes worldwide. Products are sorted into over 300 categories and shipped to international markets.
- Collection and Processing Fees: Fees charged to retailers and brands for take-back collection services, sorting, and recycling of used textiles and footwear. Revenue from industry and retail partners for Re-Value program services including surplus production, returned goods, and defective items.
- Secondary Raw Materials Sales: Sale of recycled materials including fibers for insulation in automotive and construction industries, separated shoe components (rubber, leather, metal) for manufacturing.
- Consulting Services: Consulting fees for implementing circular economy concepts and processes into business models.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
SOEX product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SOEX is a German textile recycling company founded in 1977 that collects, sorts, recycles, and trades used clothing and shoes on an industrial scale. The company operates the I:CO take-back system and runs the world's first dedicated shoe recycling plant, leveraging proprietary AI-powered material recognition sorting technology to automate grade classification of mixed textile streams.
Product overview
SOEX operates as a comprehensive textile and footwear circular economy platform offering end-to-end services across the entire value chain. The portfolio consists of core service offerings including Collecting, Sorting, Sorting for Recycling, Recycling, Re-Commerce, Re-Value, and Consulting, supported by the I:CO Take-Back System sub-brand for retail take-back solutions. The company operates two major processing facilities (Wolfen, Germany and Sharjah, UAE) and has developed proprietary AI-powered Automated Material Recognition technology for automated textile sorting. SOEX's services follow the international waste hierarchy, prioritizing reuse over recycling, with a zero-waste philosophy and goal of keeping 100% of used textiles in the product cycle.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Collecting
Quantifiable outcome
- 25,000 pairs of safety shoes saved from incineration annually with Mercedes-Benz partnership
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use SOEX
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
SOEX technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature4 records
SOEX partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- CIRCULAR REPUBLICcoreStrategic alliance to advance circular economy principles within the company and invest in a sustainable future. Goal: to close the loop along the entire textile industry value chain. SOEX gains access to start-up ecosystem, learning programs, and latest research results. Partnership part of Circular Textile Platform under UnternehmerTUM.
- Mercedes-Benz AGcorePilot project for recycling safety shoes from Sindelfingen plant. SOEX collects approximately 25 tonnes (25,000 pairs) of shoes annually and recycles them at Wolfen facility, recovering rubber, leather and metal components.
- DBL BögecoreContract to recycle workwear ecologically. Discarded workwear sorted by SOEX and reintroduced into textile cycle as raw material for yarn production. 25 tonnes of clothing recycled annually. Also includes DBL Wulff and DBL Richter.
- Tally WeijlcoreExpanded cooperation for collecting worn clothing throughout Europe. In-store take-back system in Switzerland, France, and additional EU countries. Customers receive 10% voucher. Fashion retailer with 800+ stores in 39 countries.
- Fashion for GoodcoreCooperation partner for 'Sorting for Circularity' report. SOEX provided information on sorted goods and transparency on sorting processes. Used automated infrared sorting station for material composition analysis of 21 tonnes of post-consumer garments.
- Sneaker RescueminorPartnership with start-up Sneaker Rescue to give worn shoes a second life.
- In-CycleminorEnglish partner in shoe recycling development, collaborated on creating appropriate plant for separating shoe components.
- Eco TLCminorFrench partner in shoe recycling development, collaborated on creating appropriate plant for separating shoe components for recycling.
- RESYNTEX Project ConsortiumcoreEU-funded €9 million research project on chemical treatment of old textiles for conversion into secondary raw materials. Led by SOEX. Resulted in automated sorting for recycling technology.
Scale indicators14 records
Recent moves10 records
Expansion highlights5 records
SOEX competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Worn Again Technologies: UK-based chemical recycler developing proprietary polymer separation technology to recover polyester and cotton from blended textiles for fiber-to-fiber recycling. Comparable to SOEX's 'Sorting for Recycling' value chain but focused on the downstream chemical recovery step rather than sorting itself.
- Circ: US-based textile recycler using hydrothermal processes to separate polyester and cellulose from blended garments for reuse. Operates in the same fiber-to-fiber recycling value chain that SOEX's NIR sorting feeds into, making it both a potential feedstock customer and a forward-integrating competitor.
- Infinited Fiber Company: Finnish fiber-to-fiber recycling technology company converting textile waste into regenerated cellulose fibers (Infinna). Operates downstream of the sorting step that SOEX specializes in, making it a complementary feedstock customer and a potential competitive threat if it integrates upstream.
Direct peers
- Re&Up (Sanko Holdings): Turkey-headquartered recycler (part of Sanko Group) producing recycled cotton and polyester fibers from post-consumer textiles at industrial scale. Directly competes with SOEX in fiber-to-fiber recycling and second-hand textile processing for European brands.
- Recover (Recover Brands / Hilaturas Ferre): Spanish recycled cotton fiber producer that processes post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste into new cotton fibers. Comparable to SOEX's recycling output stream and competes for textile waste feedstock supply.
- BÖR Group (Böhmer & Böhmer): German family-owned textile recycling group operating collection, sorting and second-hand wholesale similar to SOEX, with comparable European geographic focus. Directly competes with SOEX for charity partnership volumes and re-commerce downstream customers.
- Texaid Group: Swiss-headquartered textile collection and sorting operator with strong DACH presence, providing charity donation collection, sorting into reuse/recycling streams, and re-commerce wholesale. Texaid is the closest direct competitor to SOEX in European post-consumer textile sorting.
Regional players
- Sysco Industries / Sysco Global Software-Enabled (alternative: Sysco Industrial): India-based textile recycling and used clothing sorting operator serving Asian, African and Middle Eastern re-commerce markets with manual and semi-automated sorting facilities. Comparable business model to SOEX's re-commerce and sorting operations but geographically concentrated in South Asia.
Broad incumbents
- Remondis (Recycling division): German-headquartered global waste management and recycling conglomerate with growing textile recycling capabilities. As a capital-rich incumbent entering post-consumer textile sorting and take-back, Remondis represents both a large-scale competitor and a potential acquisition counterparty for SOEX.
- Andritz Lenzing Technocore / Andritz Textile Recycling: Austrian industrial machinery and process technology group providing recycling and separation equipment to the textile and nonwoven industries. Comparable to SOEX's NIR-based sorting technology but as a broad equipment supplier rather than a recycling operator.
Market position
Strengths1 record
Weaknesses1 record
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
SOEX social profiles
Digital presenceSOEX compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
SOEX financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SOEX leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
SOEX subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
SOEX funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SOEX M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SOEX
What does SOEX do?
SOEX is a German textile recycling company founded in 1977 that collects, sorts, recycles, and trades used clothing and shoes on an industrial scale. The company operates the I:CO take-back system and runs the world's first dedicated shoe recycling plant, leveraging proprietary AI-powered material recognition sorting technology to automate grade classification of mixed textile streams.
Is SOEX a public or private company?
SOEX is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was SOEX founded?
SOEX was founded in 1977. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is SOEX based?
SOEX is headquartered in Ahrensburg, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does SOEX make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Second-hand Textile Sales (Re-Commerce) is the primary driver. The others are collection and Processing Fees, secondary Raw Materials Sales and consulting Services.
Who are SOEX's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Worn Again Technologies, Circ and Infinited Fiber Company. Direct peers are Re&Up (Sanko Holdings), Recover (Recover Brands / Hilaturas Ferre), BÖR Group (Böhmer & Böhmer) and Texaid Group. Sysco Industries / Sysco Global Software-Enabled (alternative: Sysco Industrial) is listed as a regional player. Broad incumbents are Remondis (Recycling division) and Andritz Lenzing Technocore / Andritz Textile Recycling.
Does SOEX have an API?
No public API is recorded for SOEX.
What industry is SOEX in?
SOEX's product category is Textile Recycling Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMAOAMAA, Post-Consumer Textile Collection & Sorting (Take-Back/Charity/Reverse Logistics), with a secondary code of IMAOAMAG, Recycling Process Equipment & Automation (Sorting Tech/NIR/Robotics). Its NAICS code is 314 and its SIC code is 2200.