New Circula-TEX Project Aims to Revolutionise Textile Waste Management in Europe

Circula-TEX, a new EU-funded project under Horizon Europe, aims to harmonise textile waste management across Member States by developing unified Extended Producer Responsibility schemes and circular innovations. With 19 partners from nine countries, the four-year initiative will create scalable solutions.

Staff Writer

27 June 2025

2 minutes

Long Story, Cut Short

Circula-TEX is a four-year EU-funded initiative to standardise textile waste and recycling policies through harmonised Extended Producer Responsibility schemes.
The project will create interoperable solutions including eco-design guidelines and traceable labelling aligned with the Digital Product Passport.
A 19-partner consortium from nine countries will drive systemic change in Europe's fragmented textile waste management system.

A new project called Circula-TEX has been launched to boost sustainable innovation in Europe’s textiles sector.

The project, funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme, brings together a consortium of 19 partners from nine European countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
The four-year-long project will drive systemic change in textile waste management through the development of harmonised Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes and interoperable circular solutions.
Circula-TEX seeks to address the pressing environmental and logistical challenges facing Europe’s textiles industry, including the fragmented regulatory frameworks among Member States and the lack of consistency in collection and recycling models.
By defining harmonised criteria and practical, scalable solutions, the project aims to support the effective implementation of EPR schemes across the EU.
The project will be coordinated by RINA Consulting SpA.

A UNIFIED EUROPEAN RESPONSE: Circula-TEX’s key innovations include:

The development of evidence-based criteria for the harmonised implementation of EPR schemes and associated policies across the EU.
The assessment of the criteria through market-oriented case studies with direct involvement of industry partners to ensure relevance and impact.
An advanced labelling system aligned with the Digital Product Passport, enhancing product traceability also across downstream stages from post-consumer waste through sorting, reuse and recycling.
The development of eco-design guidelines to foster the scalability of textile products more reusable and recyclable.

THE PARTICIPANTS: The Circula-TEX consortium represents a cross-section of the European textile ecosystem, from industry leaders to cutting-edge research institutions.

Belgium