OnceMore is a member of the new EU-project

A consortium of 27 partners has launched a new European Union co-funded four-year project to support the transition to a more circular and sustainable textile industry in Europe. Led by Centexbel, the Belgian research centre for textiles and plastics, the CISUTAC (Circular and Sustainable Textiles and Clothing) consortium includes leading brands, civil society organisations and EU associations.

The consortium also includes textile and clothing industry body Euratex, French retailer Decathlon, Zara owner Inditex, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein owner PVH Corp, fibre producer Lenzing, and Swedish textile recycler Södra.

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 2 material groups representing almost 90% of all textile fibre materials (polyester, and cotton/cellulosic fibres), and focusing on products from 3 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 3 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 coordinator of the CISUTAC consortium, Centexbel will take the overall lead of this project, with a focus on orchestrating the pilot activities. Further, Centexbel is responsible for the purification of recycled polyester chips and the processing of recycled polyesters to yarns and textiles. 

More information on the CISUTAC project on its website: www.cisutac.eu