Advancing Circular Textiles: Textile ETP and ECOSYSTEX at the New Cotton Project Final Conference
On 21 March 2024, Textile ETP participated in the New Cotton Project and Telavalue's one-day seminar in Finland together with textile industry stakeholders to share findings and exchange ideas on driving circular initiatives in the sector as the projects come to a close. New Cotton Project and Telavalue are both projects developed and pilot-tested innovative technologies and business models for textile circularity, with special focus on cellulose-based textile waste.
The conference commenced with opening remarks from industry leaders and New Cotton Project partners Paula Sarsama of Infinited Fiber Company and Pirjo Heikkilä from VTT. Lutz Walter, Secretary General of Textile ETP, outlined the long-term vision for textile circularity developments, providing a comprehensive overview of ongoing initiatives and highlighted key areas for future focus and development.
His presentation was followed by Jukka Pesola's presentation on actionable steps toward achieving circularity, as demonstrated by Pure Waste. A dynamic panel discussion on the future of circular textiles ensued, featuring contributions from industry experts Drishti Masand of adidas, Ali Harlin from VTT, and Paula Sarsama, alongside Lutz Walter and Jukka Pesola.
The seminar concluded with a session dedicated to highlighting sustainable textile research collaborations across Europe. Tilla Kross, Sustainability Programme Officer at Textile ETP, provided valuable insights into the ECOSYSTEX community, underscoring the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge sharing in driving sustainable innovation.
This session also featured presentations from four ECOSYSTEX member projects, each showcasing groundbreaking research and technological advancements:
Pirjo Heikkilä (VTT) discussed tExtended and the Framework for extended textile circularity
Alexandra Barrios (adidas) shared insights from the T-REX Project focusing on closed-loop recycling for textiles (adidas).
Carla Fité Galan (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) presented the TRICK Project's innovative digital product passport.
Federica Gucciardi (SPIN 360) introduced my-fi, a project exploring mycelium-based materials.
