#Recycling / Circular Economy

2024-06-06

Circle Economy and partners launch new textile 5R solutions project SOLSTICE

Launched on 28 May, 2024, the SOLSTICE project supports sustainable growth in the textile sector by raising customer awareness, enhancing recycling with new sorting methods, ensuring feedstock traceability using the Digital Product Passport, and providing data and guidelines to decision-makers. ?

Led by Axel’One, an open innovation platform in chemistry-environment in France, the SOLSTICE consortium is EU-wide and covering the whole value chain in textiles and plastics. The project spans 42 months, aiming at advancing climate-neutral and circular economy practices within the textile industry.

The SOLSTICE project is based on a holistic approach that encompasses all stages of waste prevention, guided by a 5R strategy: Reject/Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Reuse and Recycle. These solutions will be tested and refined in demonstrations conducted in 4 European cities and regions: Grenoble (France), Berlin (Germany), Prato (Italy), and Catalonia (Spain).

Partnering with businesses and clusters across the textile value chain are central to the SOLSTICE’s mission. Through these collaborations, SOLSTICE seeks to unlock concrete business opportunities to accelerate the adoption of innovative solutions that align with the circular economy.

As part of a consortium of 24 partners working on the project, Circle Economy will uncover the current state of circularity in textiles ecosystem as well as identify and inform the areas of immediate action, the choice of circular interventions and the design of replicable blueprints.

More information on the SOLSTICE project on its website: www.solstice-project.eu

Between 121 and 142 million people are employed in the circular economy globally, new study finds

Between 121 and 142 million people worldwide are employed in sectors that contribute to the circular economy, such as repair, recycling, second-hand trade and waste management. This represents roughly between 5 and 5.8 percent of total global employment (excluding agriculture), according to a new joint report by Circle Economy, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank Group, in partnership with the UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy (UN-PAGE).

Circulose welcomes Sara Diez Jauregui and Kalyan Madabhushi to its Board of Directors

Circulose is proud to announce the appointment of Sara Diez Jauregui and Kalyan Madabhushi to further strengthen its Board of Directors, following the recent appointment of Chair Helena Helmersson. These additions bring world-class expertise across the value chain: Sara offers extensive experience with leading fashion and apparel brands, while Kalyan brings a notable career at Aditya Birla Group, a global leader in cellulosic fiber production.

Successful pilot: biodegradable plastic produced from textile waste

The 'Design for Transformation' (D4T) pilot project, led by Circle Economy and the Biomimicry Institute, has developed an innovative technology to produce bioplastics and gaseous products from textile waste. This set of technologies aims to enable companies to generate additional revenue streams from waste, whilst diverting it from landfills or incineration.

Industrial scale meets verified governance: RE&UP is now B Corp™ certified

RE&UP, the circular-tech transforming global textile waste into high-volume Next-Gen materials, has officially become a Certified B Corporation™. The milestone establishes the industrial recycler among a select group of manufacturing infrastructure providers verified as meeting B Lab Standards for social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.

Recover™ and Ünteks Group partner to scale recycled cotton in knitwear

Recover(TM), a global producer of low‐impact, high‐quality recycled cotton fiber, announces a new partnership with Ünteks Group, a vertically integrated textile manufacturer based in Turkey. The collaboration focuses on the development of circular knit fabrics and garments, combining Recover’s recycled cotton fiber with Ünteks Group’s integrated capabilities across knitting, dyeing, printing, and garment production.

ALADIN paves the way for circular and demand-driven textile production in Europe

Textile production can be organized sustainably by utilizing short supply chains and preventing overproduction. This can already be achieved today by intelligently connecting and efficiently utilizing existing infrastructure. At the same time, production becomes circular when innovative technologies and materials are used that enable high-quality recycling. The ALADIN research project, launched in May 2026 and co-funded with five million euros under the EU Horizon Europe program, is creating the conditions for this.

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.

Rieter sees Barmag integration on track as orders and sales rise

The first half of 2026 was shaped by the successful completion of the largest acquisition in Rieter’s history. The Man-Made Fiber Division enables entry into the growth segment of man-made fibers and sustainably strengthens Rieter’s market position in the Asia region. The expanded Group is now the world’s leading system supplier for the processing of natural and man-made fibers. In the first half of the year, initial cost savings in material costs and operating expenses have already been realized. The targeted synergies are expected to amount to at least CHF 20 million by the end of the 2028 financial year. Due to the completion of the acquisition on February 2, 2026, the first half of the year for the Man-Made Fiber Division only amounts to five months.