#EU Textile Strategy

2024-06-13

Textile ETP at the European Commission's event on the Textiles Ecosystem Transition Pathway

On 4 June 2024, the Textile ETP Secretary General Lutz Walter participated in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs (DG GROW) stakeholder event for the Textiles Ecosystem Transition Pathway.

The event updated participants on essential regulatory initiatives under the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, the EU Pact for Skills, and the implementation of the Transition Pathway for the Textiles Ecosystem. Discussions also covered the European Partnership on Textiles under Horizon Europe, emphasizing the need for industry resilience and competitiveness.

ETP Secretary General Lutz Walter introduced the Textiles of the Future Partnership under Horizon Europe, highlighting its strategic importance for more research and innovation in the sector. This initiative aims to support the textile industry's green and digital transformation while reinforcing Europe's leadership in textile research, technology development, and higher education.

Dirk Vantyghem, Director General of EURATEX, praised DG GROW’s efforts: "it was great to see so many stakeholders committed to implementing the Textiles Transition Pathway. EURATEX will continue its focus on ensuring quality legislation and helping our companies prepare for that transition."

This event also highlights the collaborative effort within the European textile sector to achieve sustainable growth and technological advancement. With the support from initiatives such as the Transition Pathway and Horizon Europe, stakeholders are working together to build a robust and ready for the future textile industry in Europe.

Published in June 2023, the Textiles Ecosystem Transition Pathway outlines 50 actions critical for the EU textiles ecosystem's green and digital transition, enhancing its resilience and competitiveness. For more information about the Transition Pathway for the Textiles Ecosystem, please visit here:

https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/6392f189-0416-11ee-87ec-01aa75ed71a1

From local actions to industrial innovations: SOLSTICE shares mid-project results

Since its launch in May 2024, the SOLSTICE project is accelerating the transition from linear models to circular regional ecosystems in the textile industry, focusing on four key territories: Grenoble-Alpes Métropole (France), Berlin (Germany), Prato (Italy), and Catalonia (Spain). By mid-project, SOLSTICE has already revealed both regional disparities and promising solutions to strengthen textile repair, reuse, and recycling infrastructure.

Textile ETP wraps up T-REX's Policy Roundtable

The T-REX project’s policy roundtable in Brussels on November 12 was a pivotal gathering of experts and leaders committed to advancing Europe’s sustainability efforts. Concluding the event, Secretary General Lutz Walter reflected on the discussions and emphasized the core themes that resonated throughout the day.

Textile Exchange Conference 2025 kicks off next week in Lisbon

From October 13 to 17, 2025, the Textile Exchange Conference will take place at the Lisbon Congress Centre, bringing together brands, supply-chain partners, innovators, farmers, NGOs, academics, and more for a week of collaborative learning and exchange. Under the theme “Shifting Landscapes”, this year’s agenda highlights the urgent need for the textile industry to adapt rapidly to changing environmental, political, and economic conditions, while linking adaptation to broader systems transformation.

Germany pushes ahead with Producer Responsibility for Textiles

Germany is taking a leading role in shaping extended producer responsibility (EPR) for textiles – a regulatory concept that is gaining traction across the European Union. EPR requires companies that manufacture or sell products such as clothing, home textiles, and shoes to take financial and operational responsibility for the end-of-life management of these goods.

Ence and ShareTex begin initial testing of the ATENEA innovation project to promote textile recycling in Spain

Ence and ShareTex are making progress on the Atenea R&D project, which aims to develop a complete value chain for textile recycling in Spain. Specifically, the goal of the ATENEA project—which is funded by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI)—is to connect all the necessary stages for the recovery of textile waste, from collection and management, through recycling and transformation into new raw materials, to their incorporation into new textile products.

DePoly Inaugurates its Showcase Plant in Monthey Switzerland

What if used plastic bottles, PET packaging material and polyester textiles could become raw materials just as high performing as virgin resources? That is the ambition of DePoly, a circular materials company based in Sion, Switzerland which inaugurated its Showcase Plant in Monthey on July 6th & 7th. The first depolymerization facility of its kind and scale in Switzerland, this industrial Showcase Plant represents a major milestone in the company's growth and its journey toward commercialization.

Commission clarifies rules on plastic bottles recycling

The European Commission today adopted new rules on recycling of single-use plastic beverage bottles made primarily of polyethylene terephthalate (PET bottles). These rules establish, for the first time, a methodology to calculate, verify and report chemically recycled content. This is part of the Commission’s December 2025 plastics package.