The EU-funded T-REX (Textile Recycling Excellence) Project has been successfully completed, presenting a blueprint for scaling textile-to-textile recycling. The blueprint, which spotlights insights and recommendations for each phase of the value chain, has been informed by in-depth analysis conducted by the project’s consortium, led by Fashion for Good, assessing the feasibility of establishing a recycling value chain in Europe.
The T-REX Project was launched in 2022 and has brought together 13 leading stakeholders from across the value chain to develop a harmonised model for the closed-loop recycling of post-consumer household textile waste in the EU. The insights have identified key challenges and propose targeted interventions to support scaling a circular textile system across four core areas – Technical Scalability, Business Viability, Environmental Impact and Policy Recommendations. While the market potential for textile-to-textile recycling in Europe is clear, realising a viable business case remains challenging due to two interconnected barriers – limited access to quality feedstock, and a lack of infrastructure at scale.
Despite the challenges, the projected rise of post-consumer textile waste to 7.3 million tons by 2030 makes it crucial to explore recycling as an alternative to landfill, incineration or export. While recycling can help manage the growing volume of non-reusable textiles, it must be integrated into a broader strategy that also focuses on reuse, repair and demand management.
