#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.

EURATEX urges Member States to prioritise competitiveness in the next EU budget

Ahead of crucial discussions among EU Member States on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028–2034, EURATEX, the European Apparel and Textile Confederation, calls on European leaders to safeguard ambitious funding for industrial competitiveness and ensure that these resources translate into concrete investment support in European companies.

EURATEX calls for urgent action on industrial competitiveness

EURATEX, the European Apparel and Textile Confederation, welcomes today’s State of the Union Address by European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and in particular her recognition of Europe’s need to rebalance unfair trade, cut red tape, and strengthen its industrial and strategic autonomy.

European textile industry calls for €10 handling fee on ultra-fast-fashion imports

The introduction of the €3 customs duty on low-value imports marks an important milestone in Europe’s efforts to address the challenges created by the rapid growth of ultra-fast-fashion imports. Together with the abolition of the €150 customs duty exemption, it demonstrates that policymakers are willing to act when market distortions become impossible to ignore. However, the European textile and clothing industry considers this a first step rather than the final destination.

From textile waste to spinning-grade fiber: STADLER Group engineers integrated sorting solution for IGERS in Italy

As technology partner, STADLER worked alongside IGERS on its new plant in San Pietro Mosezzo, Novara, from the first process discussions to the final layout – integrating key treatment equipment into one system and supplying the fully automated sorting line. Together, the two companies have taken IGERS' patented textile recycling process from vision to industrial reality.

Toray develops Polyester-Nylon fiber containing at least 93% recycled material by mass

Toray Industries, Inc., announced today that it has developed a polyester-nylon fiber with at least 93% recycled content by mass, based on the total weight of the raw yarn. This percentage applies to the newly developed raw yarn and does not represent the recycled content of the finished fabric or garment.

Canopy shifts focus towards recycling and traceability in updated Hot Button criteria

Environmental non-profit organisation Canopy has introduced revised criteria for its annual Hot Button Report, which evaluates producers of man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCFs), including viscose, lyocell and acetate. The updated framework places greater emphasis on scaling alternative fibre sources, improving supply chain traceability and supporting forest conservation, while maintaining responsible sourcing as a central requirement.