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Article by by Beth Kocher Gormley, Communications and PR Manager, UCD College of Business

“There’s a whole new world of opportunity for clothing, so let’s stop thinking of it as waste and start thinking of it as something to be valued and treasured,” said UCD College of Business Professor Donna Marshall, who is part of TRUSTex, a pioneering €7.6 million European project set to revolutionize textile waste management through innovative Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes.

Led by the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), TRUSTex brings together 19 partners across 11 countries to revolutionize textile waste management. The 3-year project unites five research and technology organizations, two universities, three non-governmental organizations, three large industry representatives, and six small and medium enterprises in an unprecedented collaboration.

The project launches as the EU prepares for mandatory separate textile collection by 2025.

Work Package 1, which is being led by Professor Marshall, comprises ten organisations that are exploring the current status and trends in the textile sector across Europe and the rest of the world. 

The work, which will be publicly available, will showcase global material flows and circular models for the textile industry. As the landscape of regulation continues to affect circularity across the EU, the work will delve into the environmental and social impact of textiles, circularity and sustainability regulation, particularly the Waste Framework Directive and Extended Producer Responsibility legislation. It will also explore how market and consumer actions affect the behaviour of the textile industry.

Professor Marshall explained, “For Ireland, like the rest of the EU, new legislation means that textiles now have to be collected separately from other forms of waste. Many people don’t realise that their textile waste, isn’t waste at all. It’s clothing. Clothing that can be used again either locally or in other parts of the world.”

“Much of the world is already circular, with pre-loved being their main source of clothing,” Professor Marshall continued. “Clothes can also be repaired and used again. If the clothing is damaged beyond repair it can be repurposed for other uses, upcycled into new pieces of clothing, compressed and used in construction materials or used as stuffing in all sorts of products. Clothes can also be recycled but this is only after the other uses are exhausted.”

The project will demonstrate several groundbreaking innovations testing, including:

- Novel eco-design strategies for improved recyclability
- Advanced sorting technologies pilots combining automation
- Evidence-based recommendations for EPR implementation
- A comprehensive Digital Product Passport system for enhanced traceability

Over the next three years, TRUSTex will work to provide evidence to support concrete recommendations for implementing viable EPR schemes while supporting the industry's transition toward sustainability.

"TRUSTex represents a crucial step toward testing and implementing effective EPR schemes that can truly transform how we produce, manage and consume textile waste in Europe," says Dr. Arno Biwer, TRUSTex Project Coordinator at LIST. "By bringing together key stakeholders from across the value chain, we're creating practical solutions that can be implemented at scale, paving the journey toward our Green Deal targets.”

About TRUSTex
TRUSTex is a Horizon Europe Innovation Action bringing together 19 partners across 10 European countries to advance sustainable textiles through innovative Extended Producer Responsibility schemes. Led by the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, the project combines multi-disciplinary collaboration, cutting-edge research, industry expertise, and policy development to transform the European textile sector. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Research and Innovation program under grant agreement N° 101181901 and from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Posts and shares reflect only the views of all the involved partners.

For more information about TRUSTex, visit the LinkedIn page here.