A new project called T-REX Project (Textile Recycling Excellence) has been launched to create a circular system for post-consumer textile waste.
- The three-year project, being funded by the European Union (EU), has been launched by a consortium of 12 major players from across the entire recycling value chain, along with research institutes.
The Project: The T-REX Project will create a harmonised EU blueprint for closed-loop sorting, and recycling of household textile waste.
- It seeks to transform end-of-use textiles, from waste, into a desired feedstock, and a commodity for new business models that can be adopted at scale.
- The project aims to contribute to understanding and identifying the infrastructure, technology and policy needed to encourage the growth of circular value chains in the textiles industry.
- The consortium partners will work towards developing a systematic approach to addressing the problem of textile waste, resource preservation and reduction of the environmental footprint of the fashion industry.
- T-REX will collect and sort household textile waste and demonstrate the full recycling process of polyester, polyamide 6, and cellulosic materials from textile waste into new garments.
- The project also aims to demonstrate sustainable and economically feasible business models for each actor along the value chain, conduct lifecycle analysis of the circular process, integrate digital tools that streamline the process of closed-loop textile recycling, and produce circular design guidelines.
The Backdrop: The T-REX Project will increase knowledge on the systemic change required to scale fibre-to-fibre recycling, adding to previous studies that include the Fashion for Good and Circle Economy’s recent Sorting for Circularity Europe report.
- It is currently estimated that only 2% of post-consumer textiles in Europe are diverted to fibre-to-fibre recycling.
- Creating a circular system for post-consumer textile waste currently faces many challenges, including a lack of standards for collecting and sorting textile waste across countries, inaccurate composition claims, uneven quality of materials, and a lack of reliable data across value chain stakeholders.
- The Sorting for Circularity Europe report indicates that 74% of low value, post-consumer textiles are readily available for fibre-to-fibre recycling in six European countries.
Who Will Do What:
- Veolia, will lead the post-consumer textile waste collection, sorting, and division to work with the feedstock needs of the respective textile recycling technologies of Infinited Fiber Company, BASF, and CuRe.
- The recycled fibres will be converted to yarn by European manufacturers Linz Textil and TWD Fibres, from which Adidas will create demonstration products with end of life in mind.
- Institute of Polymer Technology at Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) will support the project with analytical expertise to maximise the conversion of multi-fibre textile waste into recycled fibre, and Aalto University will conduct citizens’ engagement activities to raise awareness of textile recycling practices and analyse social impact.
- Fashion for Good will lead industry communications, and conduct business viability and digital integration activities, supported by Quantis and Arapaha who will collect and analyse data from across the value chain for sustainability assessments and digital solution recommendations.
