Advancing recycling technologies for mixed post-consumer textiles waste from blended products

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: European textiles manufacturers have access to novel technologies for fibre-to-fibre recycling of post-consumer textile waste; local authorities and consumers benefit from resource- and cost-efficient waste management of post-consumer blended textiles; European recyclers are equipped with properly characterised mixed post-consumer textile waste. Scope: The topic aims at improved management of the end-of-life phase of textile products. Textiles are the fourth highest-pressure category for the use of primary raw materials and water and fifth for GHG emissions and a major source of microplastic pollution in production and use phases. They are also a key material and product stream in the circular economy action plan. Proposals are expected to demonstrate and deploy innovative solutions for increased quality, non-toxicity and durability of secondary textile materials and their processing and treatments. Proposals should: address textile consumer products made of fibre blends (e.g. polycotton, or other blends of multiple materials in combination such as synthetic, semi-synthetic and natural); demonstrate and test novel and marketable solutions for post-consumer textile waste (apparel and home textiles) enabling its effective end-of-life collection, sorting and recycling (fibre-to-fibre), possibly including biotech solutions; demonstrate and test innovative techniques for effectively disassembling complex products, separating multi-material layers and fibre blends and removal of non-textile components, coatings or contaminants to facilitate efficient recycling processes; assess the recyclability limits of textiles by determining the number of recycling cycles a fibre can undergo. When further fibre-to-fibre recycling is no longer viable, alternative applications should be explored to extend the material's value. Solutions should address recycling of products made of natural fibres (e.g., cotton) or/and semi-synthetic fibres, i.e. modified natural fibres (e.g. viscose), blended with synthetic fibres, ensuring optimal resource efficiency and minimizing waste throughout the textile lifecycle; characterize post-consumer textile waste in order to define appropriate management practices in particular if the technology is developed within an industrial and urban symbiosis; advance recycling technologies that remove persistent chemicals (e.g. PFAS) from post-consumer textile waste which may harm human health and the environment, and that minimise the release of haza…