#Recycling / Circular Economy

2025-04-29

Practical, market-driven End-of-Waste criteria are key to textile circularity

As the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) works on the development of harmonised End-of-Waste (EoW) criteria for textiles, EuRIC, the voice of Europe’s recycling industries, calls for an approach that is practical, market-driven, and innovation-friendly.

EoW criteria must reflect the realities of textile collection, sorting, and recycling to enable a truly circular textiles value chain. Valuable textiles – including workwear, technical items, or garments with minor defects (i.e. missing buttons, or small stains) – must not be excluded from reuse or recycling due to overly rigid definitions or current technological limitations. Trusted and trained sorting operators are best placed to determine reusability based on real market demand.

Sorters and recyclers must not be administratively burdened with disproportionate requirements. The sector needs quality assurance frameworks that are realistic and easy to implement, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Support for the JRC proposed approach that grants the EoW for recycling status afterthe recycling process, in line with the Waste Framework Directive, which defines recycling as “any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances." While sorting for recycling is an essential step, output materials of this operation are intermediate fractions that still need to undergo recycling and should not be eligible for EoW status. As recommended by the JRC for the mechanical recycling, EoW status shall be granted at the point at which the output material is either ready to be used directly as a textile product or is ready to be used for the production of new textile products.

Recyclers cannot be held responsible for unknown chemical content in post-consumer textiles, and red tape must be avoided. An approach should be found that ensures compliance with the chemicals legislation without harming the textiles circular economy, and by considering the challenges of tracking thousands of substances in post-consumer textiles.

The EoW framework must actively support innovation. This includes enabling R&D through targeted exemptions for small volumes of textile waste, allowing the testing of new materials and recycling processes under safe conditions, without being blocked by rigid standards.

A successful EoW framework must reduce barriers - not create new ones. The future of textile recycling in Europe depends on smart rules that empower sorters & recyclers, drive investment, and unlock the full potential of circularity.

The European Recycling Conference 2025 heads to Hamburg

The European Recycling Conference (ERC) is coming to Hamburg, Germany, on 1 October 2025. This year’s edition, co-organised with EuRIC’s German members BDSV, bvse, and VDM, will explore the topic of “Building a competitive market for recycled materials”, and their critical role in delivering on the EU’s Competitiveness Compass and Clean Industrial Deal objectives.

Countdown to Textiles Recycling Expo 2026: Brussels prepares for Europe’s textile recycling gathering

With only two weeks remaining until the start of the second edition of the Textiles Recycling Expo 2026, preparations are entering the final phase. The exhibition and conference, dedicated exclusively to textile recycling and circularity, will take place on 24–25 June 2026 at Brussels Expo and is expected to attract stakeholders from across the textile recycling value chain.

Indorama Ventures enables brands to scale circular textiles through proven, traceable supply chains

Indorama Ventures, a global leader in recycled polyester staple fibers and filament yarns, will exhibit at Textiles Recycling Expo in Brussels on June 24–25. At the event, the company will show how brands and textile manufacturers can build traceable, circular textile supply chains by working with proven partners who deliver recycled materials on an industrial scale.

RECOVER™ launches Recover™ Yarns to accelerate recycled cotton uptake

Recover™, a leading materials science company and one of the world’s largest producers of recycled cotton fiber, today announces the launch of Recover™ Yarns, a curated portfolio of ready-to-use yarn solutions designed to accelerate the adoption of recycled cotton across the apparel supply chain.

Uster’s new Recycling Opening Index guides spinners to the perfect blend

Uster AFIS 6 now offers the key data for better decisions when blending recycled fibers. Process control is decisive in determining the quality and economic outcome. The new R Recycling Module of AFIS 6 introduces the Recycling Opening Index (ROI), so spinners can optimize their circularity credentials. It was officially launched at ITM 2026 in Istanbul, Türkiye.

KARL MAYER presents a textile TEXTRONIC® innovation at ITM 2026

With highly efficient machines and continuous textile innovations, KARL MAYER underscores its role as a reliable partner for discerning top-tier customers. Just in time for ITM 2026 in Istanbul, the industry leader is introducing a true innovation: an eyelash lace with its characteristic fringed look – combined with a previously unattainable 4-way stretch. While the established fabric could until now only be produced as rigid version or with one-dimensional stretch, the new elasticity in both dimensions expands the possibilities for cross-band panel fabrics.

DYNEEMA® and NP Aerospace advance personal protection for military servicewomen

Dyneema®, owned by Avient Corporation, an innovator of materials solutions, is supplying its high-performance unidirectional (UD) materials to world-leading armor manufacturer NP Aerospace, enabling the production of armor systems designed specifically to fit the female body. With 2,000 new armor systems, including 4,000 plates, made in the United Kingdom (UK) and delivered in June 2026, this collaboration addresses a long-standing lack of high-quality personal protection specially built for female defense and security personnel.

Textile Exchange publishes comprehensive polyester LCA study

Textile Exchange has released a new Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study on polyester, providing detailed data on the environmental impacts of both virgin and recycled polyester production. The study aims to strengthen understanding across the fashion, textile and apparel industries and support more informed decision-making regarding polyester sourcing and production.