CISUTAC Newsletter

Engaging Consumers in Sustainable Textile Practices

The way Europeans buy, use, repair, and dispose of clothing is becoming a critical lever in the transition to a circular textile economy. While innovation in materials and recycling technologies is essential, real change cannot happen without consumers. This is what CISUTAC emphasises: by placing citizens at the centre of the system and investigating how everyday decisions can either reinforce wasteful patterns or support circular ones.

CISUTAC partners Wageningen University & Research, Kringwinkel Antwerp, Oxfam Belgium and Ireland, and Decathlon Italy, recently produced two reports focusing specifically on consumer behaviour and awareness-raising. Together, they bring behavioural science, real-world experiementation, and large-scale communication campaigns to life across several European countries. Circular fashion thrives not only on better products, but on better habits, and those habits grow when people have the right tools, messages, and opportunities to support them.

Read the full article

CISUTAC welcomes two new project partners!

Meet the new CISUTAC partners Earth Protex and VÚB! Both are leading the development and scale-up of a proprietary hybrid yarn spinning technology enabling fibre-to-fibre recycling of cotton, and enabling the re-spinning of short, mechanically recycled cotton fibres that cannot be processed through conventional spinning systems

CISUTAC continues its Sustainability Forum webinar series

Missed our latest CISUTAC Suistainability Forum webinars? If you could not join us or if you want to watch them again, the recordings are available below:

The sixth and final webinar will be announced shortly! Follow us on LinkedIn not to miss any annoucements!

CISUTAC trains the RREUSE network on its two workstations

RREUSE, Kringwinkel Antwerpen and Gentle Systems gathered in Antwerp, Belgium, together with social enterprises from the RREUSE network for a training on textile repair and dismantling. Together, they explored and learned how to use two workstations developed within the CISUTAC project pilots to make repairs of zippers and dismantling of workwear more efficient.

CISUTAC hosts pilot test week to improve textile sorting for reuse and recycling

TEXAID hosted the pilot test week focused on improving textile sorting for reuse and recycling, with the development of an automated decision support tool that enhances the assessment and classification of used textiles. During the test week, functionality tests and workflow optimisations were carried out to evaluate how the decision support tool performs in real industrial conditions.

CISUTAC presented at the Research Group Product & Textiles of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden joined the Research Group Product & Textiles of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts's Design, Film and Art Faculty for an deep dive into the future of textile systems and the role of data in enabling circularity. Participants engaged with the 4 CISUTAC future scenarios, exploring how the industry might evolve and what pathways could accelerate a circular transition.

ECOSYSTEX, the European Community of Practice for a Sustainable Textile Ecosystem, launched in early 2023, counts now 91 EU-funded member projects, including textile-related skills and education projects.

Since our previous newsletter issue, we welcomed 15 new projects!

Save the Date: ECOSYSTEX Conference 2026

The fourth ECOSYSTEX Conference will take place as a physical event on 22-24 September in Antwerp, Belgium, in partnership with the University of Antwerp. This event will bring together experts, innovators, and industry leaders to explore circular textiles beyond recycling, and will host CISUTAC final event. What to expect:

Two days of insightful discussions, networking, and collaboration.
Interactive sessions led by CISUTAC, Circula-TEX, SOLSTICE, FABRIX, JUST FASHION, and CRAFT-IT4SD
Discover one of the CISUTAC pilots: a semi-automated zipper repair station, located in De Kringwinkel Antwerp, that helps repair garments more efficiently, reduces repair times, and makes the process accessible even to staff without sewing backgrounds.
Exclusive visits to the research facilities at CISUTAC coordinator Centexbel in Ghent, and local companies.

We are still fine-tuning the programme, and registrations will open in late Spring. For now, mark your calendar and stay tuned for more details!

The ECOSYSTEX Insights Series continues!

Explore the latest in textile sustainability and circularity research and innovation on Friday 17 April 2026! This 21st ECOSYSTEX webinar will spotlight on four projects, FABRIX, SorTex, CIRTECHTEX and CISUTAC.

From insights on textile collection, sorting, and circular value chains to circularity in personal protective equipment manufacturing, this session will offer opportunities to get valuable insights and connect with other projects working toward a more circular and resilient industry.

Register for the ECOSYSTEX Insights #21

Discover the upcoming ECOSYSTEX events

Since our last newsletter issue, three other dissemination webinars have already been organised, presenting the different projects that make the ECOSYSTEX community, their objectives and outcomes. If you could not join us for these events or if you would like to watch them again, the recordings are available below:

ECOSYSTEX Membership is open to running European-funded projects focusing on textile sustainability and circularity, or concluded projects meeting the same criteria. For more information about the membership, contact Textile ETP.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No. 101060375.

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