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29.09.2022

CISUTAC: New European innovation project on circular & sustainable textiles

Launched this September, the new Horizon Europe project CISUTAC will support the transition to a circular and sustainable textile sector. As part of a consortium of 27 partners working on the project, TEXAID will among others support the project with sorting, disassembly and repair trials.

The production and consumption of textile products continue to grow, together with their impact on the environment, due to a lack of reuse, repair and recycling of materials. Quality, durability, and recyclability are often not being set as priorities in the design and manufacturing of clothing (EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, March 2022).  

CISUTAC aims to remove current bottlenecks in order to increase textile circularity in Europe. The objective is to minimise the sector’s total environmental impact by developing sustainable, novel, and inclusive large-scale European value chains.  

Launched this September, the new Horizon Europe project CISUTAC will support the transition to a circular and sustainable textile sector. As part of a consortium of 27 partners working on the project, TEXAID will among others support the project with sorting, disassembly and repair trials.

The production and consumption of textile products continue to grow, together with their impact on the environment, due to a lack of reuse, repair and recycling of materials. Quality, durability, and recyclability are often not being set as priorities in the design and manufacturing of clothing (EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, March 2022).  

CISUTAC aims to remove current bottlenecks in order to increase textile circularity in Europe. The objective is to minimise the sector’s total environmental impact by developing sustainable, novel, and inclusive large-scale European value chains.  

The project will cover most parts of the textile sector by working on two material groups representing almost 90% of all textile fibre materials (polyester, and cotton/cellulosic fibres), and focusing on products from three sub-sectors experiencing varying circularity bottlenecks (fashion garments, sports and outdoor goods, and workwear).  

CISUTAC will follow a holistic approach covering the technical, sectoral and socio-economic aspects, and will perform three pilots to demonstrate the feasibility and value of:

  • Repair and disassembly
  • Sorting (for reuse and recycling)
  • Circular garments through fibre-to-fibre recycling and design for circularity

To realise these pilots, the consortium partners will:

  • Develop semi-automated workstations
  • Analyse the infrastructure and material flows
  • Digitally enhance sorting operations (for reuse and recycling)
  • Raise awareness among the consumers and the textile industry

As part of the CISUTAC consortium, TEXAID, will conduct different trials of sorting, repair, and disassembly, and be active in the LCA and Standardisation work packages.

Source:

TEXAID Textilverwertungs-AG

09.08.2022

Carbios joined WhiteCycle to process and recycle plastic textile waste

  • An innovative European project to process and recycle plastic textile waste
  • A partnership to reach the objectives set by the European Union in reducing CO2 emissions by 2030
  • A unique consortium rallying 16 public and private European organizations working together for more circular economy

Carbios joined WhiteCycle, a project coordinated by Michelin, which was launched in July 2022. Its main goal is to develop a circular solution to convert complex[1] waste containing textile made of plastic into products with high added value. Co-funded by Horizon Europe, the European Union’s research and innovation program, this unprecedented public/private European partnership includes 16 organizations and will run for four years.
 

  • An innovative European project to process and recycle plastic textile waste
  • A partnership to reach the objectives set by the European Union in reducing CO2 emissions by 2030
  • A unique consortium rallying 16 public and private European organizations working together for more circular economy

Carbios joined WhiteCycle, a project coordinated by Michelin, which was launched in July 2022. Its main goal is to develop a circular solution to convert complex[1] waste containing textile made of plastic into products with high added value. Co-funded by Horizon Europe, the European Union’s research and innovation program, this unprecedented public/private European partnership includes 16 organizations and will run for four years.
 
WhiteCycle envisions that by 2030 the uptake and deployment of its circular solution will lead to the annual recycling of more than 2 million tons of the third most widely used plastic in the world, PET[2]. This project should prevent landfilling or incineration of more than 1.8 million tons of that plastic each year. Also, it should enable reduction of CO2 emissions by around 2 million tons.
 
Complex waste containing textile (PET) from end-of-life tyres, hoses and multilayer clothes are currently difficult to recycle, but could soon become recyclable thanks to the project outcomes. Raw material from PET plastic waste could go back into creation of high-performance products, through a circular and viable value chain.
 
Public and private European organizations are combining their scientific and industrial expertises:

  • industrial partners (Michelin, Mandals, KORDSA);
  • cross-sector partnership (Inditex)
  • waste management companies (Synergies TLC, ESTATO);
  • intelligent monitoring systems for sorting (IRIS);
  • biological recycling SME (Carbios);
  • product life cycle analysis company (IPOINT);
  • university, expert in FAIR data management (HVL);
  • universities, research and technology organizations (PPRIME – Université de Poitiers/CNRS, DITF, IFTH, ERASME);
  • industry cluster (Axelera);
  • project management consulting company (Dynergie).

 
The consortium will develop new processes required throughout the industrial value chain:

  • Innovative sorting technologies, to enable significant increase of the PET plastic content of complex waste streams in order to better process them;
  • A pre-treatment for recuperated PET plastic content, followed by a breakthrough recycling enzyme-based process to decompose it into pure monomers in a sustainable way;
  • Repolymerization of the recycled monomers into like new plastic;
  • Fabrication and quality verification of the new products made of recycled plastic materials

 
WhiteCycle has a global budget of nearly 9.6 million euros and receives European funding in the amount of nearly 7.1 million euros. The consortium’s partners are based in five countries (France, Spain, Germany, Norway and Turkey). Coordinated by Michelin, it has an effective governance system involving a steering committee, an advisory board and a technical support committee.

[1] Complex waste: multi materials waste (Rubber goods composites and multi-layer textile)
[2] PET: Polyethylene terephthalate

Source:

Carbios