#Recycling / Circular Economy

2025-07-17

tExtended to host workshop at 3rd Ecosystex Conference In Gothenburg, Sweden

In order to demonstrate and validate the steps taken so far to develop a blueprint for the optimized cycling of discarded textiles, the EU-funded project tExtended will be present at the next ECOSYSTEX conference, which will take place on September 29 – October 1 at the Jacy’z Hotel in Gothenburg, Sweden.

tExtended will present “Building a collaborative circular textile system”, an interactive workshop where the external participants will be asked to engage with the project’s preliminary results about system dynamics modelling, barriers to circular transition, and value chain development from a logistics perspective. The feedback gained through the workshop will allow tExtended to validate the assumptions so far obtained and expand the project insights into circularity scenarios, policy trade-offs, and key challenges in building a sustainable and circular textile system. The workshop will be presented by representatives from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, and Tekologistik.

“Over the past two years and a half of work, tExtended has advanced the development of digital and technological solutions for textile waste management and circularity, and we will continue developing innovations in the next months. However, validating the results obtained so far requires collaboration and cooperation also outside of tExtended, which is why the workshop at the ECOSYSTEX conference is so important and will help us ensuring we are going in the right direction,” says tExtended Project Coordinator, Dr. Pirjo Heikkilä from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

In addition, tExtended will be present at the conference with an exhibition of textile samples produced within the project activities that will showcase the achievements reached by the partners. The types of samples space from demonstration of results of innovative recycling processes to finished clothes ready for the market, all highlighting the continuous cooperation among the project partners needed to reach such results.

This will be the 3rd conference organized by ECOSYSTEX, the European Community of Practice for a Sustainable Textile Ecosystem, formally launched in 2023 with the goal of accelerating collaboration in the textile sustainability and circularity field. Please find more information about ECOSYSTEX on their website: https://www.ecosystex.eu/

This year’s conference is focused on new technologies and business models for textile circularity; please find more information about the 3rd ECOSYSTEX conference and how to register here: https://ecosystex-conference-2025.b2match.io/

tExtended 6th plenary meeting sets strategic priorities for next phase

On 20th and 21st May 2025, tExtended partners have gathered for the sixth plenary meeting in Turku, in Finland. The meeting happened on the thirty-sixth month of work of the tExtended project, and it has been hosted by LSJH at Forum Marinum, in Turku. The meeting has been held over two days, and it has brought together representatives from all the project consortium, coming from 10 different European countries.

Industrial scale meets verified governance: RE&UP is now B Corp™ certified

RE&UP, the circular-tech transforming global textile waste into high-volume Next-Gen materials, has officially become a Certified B Corporation™. The milestone establishes the industrial recycler among a select group of manufacturing infrastructure providers verified as meeting B Lab Standards for social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.

Recover™ and Ünteks Group partner to scale recycled cotton in knitwear

Recover(TM), a global producer of low‐impact, high‐quality recycled cotton fiber, announces a new partnership with Ünteks Group, a vertically integrated textile manufacturer based in Turkey. The collaboration focuses on the development of circular knit fabrics and garments, combining Recover’s recycled cotton fiber with Ünteks Group’s integrated capabilities across knitting, dyeing, printing, and garment production.

ALADIN paves the way for circular and demand-driven textile production in Europe

Textile production can be organized sustainably by utilizing short supply chains and preventing overproduction. This can already be achieved today by intelligently connecting and efficiently utilizing existing infrastructure. At the same time, production becomes circular when innovative technologies and materials are used that enable high-quality recycling. The ALADIN research project, launched in May 2026 and co-funded with five million euros under the EU Horizon Europe program, is creating the conditions for this.

Ence and ShareTex begin initial testing of the ATENEA innovation project to promote textile recycling in Spain

Ence and ShareTex are making progress on the Atenea R&D project, which aims to develop a complete value chain for textile recycling in Spain. Specifically, the goal of the ATENEA project—which is funded by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI)—is to connect all the necessary stages for the recovery of textile waste, from collection and management, through recycling and transformation into new raw materials, to their incorporation into new textile products.

Rieter sees Barmag integration on track as orders and sales rise

The first half of 2026 was shaped by the successful completion of the largest acquisition in Rieter’s history. The Man-Made Fiber Division enables entry into the growth segment of man-made fibers and sustainably strengthens Rieter’s market position in the Asia region. The expanded Group is now the world’s leading system supplier for the processing of natural and man-made fibers. In the first half of the year, initial cost savings in material costs and operating expenses have already been realized. The targeted synergies are expected to amount to at least CHF 20 million by the end of the 2028 financial year. Due to the completion of the acquisition on February 2, 2026, the first half of the year for the Man-Made Fiber Division only amounts to five months.