#Recycling / Circular Economy

2020-11-18

EURATEX unveils a joint initiative

EURATEX unveils ReHubs, a joint initiative to upcycle textile waste and circular materials all over Europe. The aim is to create 5 hubs to process textile waste and become European coordination centres.

The increase of collected textile waste from 2.8 mln tons to 4.2 - 5.5 mln tons will become a major environmental and economic challenge, unless Europe sets up a large scale and coordinated system for collecting, sorting and recycling all textile waste streams by 2024. In less than four years, the textile wastes shall be collected separately and should ideally be processed in the EU. To turn the upcoming textile waste problem into an opportunity, EURATEX, the European Apparel and Textile Confederation, with its members, launches a join initiative to set European Textile Recycling Hubs, the ReHubs.

Setting the ReHubs near European textile and apparel districts will offer the benefit of circular economy by upcycling textile wastes, as a completely new, coordinated, large-scale management of material-streams.

The Hubs’ capacity to treat large volumes will create economies of scale, justifying the costs of existing recycling technologies as well as investments into new ones, such as chemical & thermal/melt recycling. This will generate new raw materials for the textile value chains, which is mostly made of SMEs (fiber-to-fiber closed loop), and for symbiosis with other European industries (e.g. automotive or other industries).

The ReHubs will enable the creation of a new European market of secondary raw materials saving additional waste-related costs. They will create and spread knowledge on products’ recyclability and product design for a better cooperation between makers and buyers across the industry value chain.

In a longer run and by successfully overcoming the R&D challenges, the ReHubs will not only tackle the issue of landfill and incineration, but they will build an opportunity for Europe to strengthen its autonomy for raw materials and provide a healthy recycling ecosystem across Europe. The ReHubs will create new green jobs. Estimates indicate that around 20 jobs could be created for every 1000 tons of textiles collected, sorted and recycled, ultimately creating up to 120.000 jobs in the European Union.

In the strategic textile ecosystem, the ReHubs offer a concrete example of partnership for change necessary to accomplish the EU objectives set in the Green Deal and in the Circular Economy Action Plan, as well as in EURATEX strategy.

Towards pragmatic and harmonised labelling in the EU

EDANA, alongside 14 European associations, urges the European Commission and Member States to adopt a pragmatic approach for the future harmonised packaging labels, in line with the EU’s agenda for the EU Single Market, simplification and competitiveness. The system should rely on text-free pictograms, available in achromatic or monochromatic versions matching the packaging palette, with the possibility of using digital labelling as a core element. Our associations represent manufacturers of consumer goods across Europe.

Textile PRO Forum calls for greater harmonisation of textile EPR systems across Europe

The Textile PRO Forum has published a new analysis highlighting the need for greater harmonisation of textile Extended Producer Responsibility systems across Europe. The document, Toward harmonised Textile EPR Systems in Europe: analysis and recommendations, presents the results of work carried out by Workstream 1 of the Textile PRO Forum, led by Dr. Eng. Viola Corbellini, Strategic Development and Innovation Expert at Erion Textiles, and Eng. Luca Campadello, General Director at Erion Textiles. The workstream focused on reducing administrative burden for textile producers by identifying areas where procedures could be better aligned across countries.

Mario Jorge Machado re-elected President of EURATEX

The EURATEX General Assembly has re-elected Mario Jorge Machado as President of EURATEX, renewing its confidence in his leadership at a crucial moment for the European textile and clothing industry. The sector is facing rising costs, global competitive pressure and an increasingly challenging transition towards sustainability and digitalisation.

Europe is losing its textile industry

EURATEX has released its latest Economic Update on the performance of the European textile and apparel industry in 2025. For the third consecutive year, the sector recorded negative results across all key indicators — production, turnover and employment — confirming a continued erosion of competitiveness across Europe.

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.