The tExtended project, a €14.5 million (US$15.6 million) initiative funded by the European Union, has entered its second phase after two years of research, marking a significant step towards addressing the escalating challenge of textile waste. This four-year project is developing a comprehensive strategy encompassing recycling, value recovery, repurposing, and textile reclamation.
The project is refining its Conceptual Framework, a knowledge-based system designed to ensure high standards. Phase II will test this framework in a real-world industrial-urban setting, aiming to achieve an ambitious 80% reduction in textile waste. This initiative responds to increasing pressure across Europe and beyond to tackle textile waste, with the European Commission prioritizing textiles and plastics in its waste management strategy.
AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, is a key player in this second phase. Partnering with VTT, AIMPLAS is employing advanced technologies, including optical sensors (NIR, RGB, and hyperspectral cameras), for material identification and classification. The focus is on identifying textile compositions suitable for recycling.
Researchers are also developing air separation techniques for sorting garments by type and pioneering separation methods for non-textile components using triboelectric and electrostatic technologies. Pilot-scale equipment, adapted for processing textile components, facilitates these advancements. Furthermore, the centre is researching the dissolution of PVC from textile waste to enhance the recyclability of remaining materials. AIMPLAS is also developing a chemical recycling process for polyurethane foams to recover polyols for reuse in new polyurethane foam formulations.
The tExtended project’s activities span numerous European countries, including Finland, Sweden, Belgium, France, Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland. A pan-European real-scale demonstrator is also under development. Local regional studies are assessing replication potential. The project, supported by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program, also emphasizes societal engagement within the textile industry.
