Textile circularity through advanced processing and manufacturing technologies and system approaches (IA) (Textiles for the Future partnership)

Expected outcome

• Increased economically viable and functionally equivalent renewable material and sustainable chemical solutions used in large scale textile applications, including apparel, home and technical textiles;
• A realistic pathway for an absolute reduction of the use of virgin fossil-based materials and chemicals used to produce textile products for the EU market by 2035, contributing to enhance the preservation of human health, biodiversity and ecosystems, whether aquatic or terrestrial ecosystem preservation and emission reduction;
• Uptake of business models and system approaches that allow for the scale up of sustainable textile material and chemical alternatives as competitive alternatives to conventional approaches.

Scope

Innovative renewable textile fibres and sustainable chemical solutions today face almost insurmountable cost disadvantages compared to extremely cost-competitive and industrially entrenched fibres and chemicals based on virgin fossil resources. To allow for the scale up of the use of innovative renewable materials and sustainable chemicals by the textile industry, improved processability of materials, suitable processing technology, deeper technical knowledge and smart phase-in approaches such as material blending or drop-in solutions are required. Specific emphasis must be placed on resulting final product quality, their durability and functionality to avoid negative user/consumer perception of products made with renewable materials and sustainable chemicals. As not all cost and quality challenges may be immediately overcome by technological innovation, accompanying business models and systems approaches are needed to enable equitable cost and risk sharing among all involved stakeholders in the textile value chain.

Attributes such as recyclability, recycled material content, and resource efficiency as well as reduced carbon and environmental footprint are expected to be part of the textile-specific requirements under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.

Proposals should specifically address:

• Innovative processing technologies to facilitate the efficient use of recycled, regenerated and bio-based fibres as well as sustainable processing and functionalising chemicals across all major stages of the textile manufacturing value chain, such as spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing or finishing;
• Quantification of biodiversity outcomes associated to new processes by using existing Monitoring, Reporting and Validation (MRV) methodologies, adapting and testing them if needed;
• Characterisation, quality assurance and mitigation strategies for the most common processing and functionality challenges and limitations of the sustainable materials and chemicals targeted;
• Development of best practices and training materials targeted at designers, manufacturers, brands, end of life managers and end users, working with the targeted materials and chemicals;
• Strategies and tools to practically implement collective risk sharing and smart scaling approaches.

Proposals should actively involve suppliers of renewable materials and sustainable chemicals, brands, commercial end users and developers/manufacturers of relevant processing technology and industrial partners with the capacity to commercially scale up production with the targeted materials and chemicals. The involvement of partners beyond the manufacturing supply chain, such as product designers, brands, commercial end users and end of life managers including collectors, sorters, recyclers and remanufacturers is particularly encouraged. Proposals should carry out research and innovation to develop missing elements and achieve the necessary integration, including economic viability. Hence, synergies with, or using results from, other projects may be appropriate. The mere integration of existing technologies or processes is outside the scope of this topic.

Proposals should provide between 10% and 25% of the EU contribution through financial support to third parties (FSTP), in order to maximise the number of SMEs involved in small-scale innovation projects. FSTP funding can be provided only to SME participants, while the active participation of larger companies in such innovation projects in encouraged. The involvement of start-ups is also specifically encouraged.

Proposals should include a business case and exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to this Destination.

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership Textiles for the Future.