CISUTAC Newsletter

Automatising PPE Recycling: The Future of Firefighter Suit Disassembly

In the quest for a more sustainable future, recycling protective workwear like firefighter suits is a unique challenge. These suits, often a complex mix of materials, present a manual, costly, and time-consuming recycling process.

As part of the CISUTAC project, PCH Innovations, SIOEN, STAM and Kringwinkel are on a mission to revolutionise this process. Their cutting-edge workstation aims to automate the disassembly of firefighter suits, making it more efficient and cost-effective. The key is maximising the recovery of pure aramid cloth pieces, a high-performance synthetic fibre.

With their solution, they combines human flexibility with smart machines to streamline the workflow. This innovative approach promises to greatly improve safety and productivity, bridging the gap between textile collection and recycling processes.

Read more about this new workstation paving the way for a more sustainable and circular economy.

Read the full article

CISUTAC hosts co-creative workshop at ECOSYSTEX Conference

In October, CISUTAC organised a co-creative workshop exploring future scenarios for a sustainable circular textile and fashion industry, taking into account two critical factors: Global Production vs. European Re-shoring, and Fast Fashion vs. Conscious Consumer Behaviours. Facilitated by our partner RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, the discussions will help in the developments of CISUTAC’s future roadmaps!

CISUTAC partners meet for the second physical project General Assembly

On 11-12 October, CISUTAC partners attended the second General Assembly in Gothenburg, Sweden, to share among the latest updates about the project. The meeting delved into various work packages aimed at increasing circularity and sustainability in textiles and clothing in Europe. The GA was also an opportunity to visit the consortium partners based in the area: RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and Wargön Innovation.

CISUTAC deep dives into megatrends influencing the textile sector

In the beginning of October, some CISUTAC partners took part in the scenario building and foresight analysis workshop in Brussels organised by RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. The aim of the workshop was to take a deep dive into the study of megatrends and foresight methodology as a basis to build scenarios for a circular textiles and clothing transition.

Textile ETP discusses textile research gaps in Lyon

On 20 July, Textile ETP attended TECHTERA's annual member event in Lyon, France, shedding light on the CISUTAC’s objectives and contribution made to ECOSYSTEX's recently published input paper, which identifies the most pressing and impactful research gaps that need to be addressed to facilitate the green transition of our textile industry

CISUTAC at ITMA 2023

In June, we were discussing CISUTAC project results and objectives at ITMA2023, the world's largest international textile and garment technology exhibition, which took place in Milan, Italy. We showcased CISUTAC's pilots, demonstrated the industrial application of new technologies for textile circularity, and met with like-minded people, helping develop the capacity and infrastructure for circular textiles!

ACR+ and Oxfam present CISUTAC at the Dublin Circular Economy Hotspot

In June, CISUTAC was presented at the Dublin Circular Economy Hotspot, in Ireland. The four-day event, focusing on circular economy, combined day of talks, conferences, and networking on different topics such as policy, citizen engagement and innovation

CISUTAC at RREUSE's conference

In June, CISUTAC was presented at the RREUSE's conference titled 'Stitching together a Social and Circular future for Textiles'. CISUTAC partner RISE Research Institutes of Sweden showcased the objectives and latest results of the project, in the "Innovations in textile waste management" panel, in which our other partner Kringwinkel Antwerpen also participated.

Kringwinkel Antwerpen visits Swedish CISUTAC partners

Earlier this spring, Kringwinkel Antwerpen travelled to Sweden to visit two CISUTAC partners Wargön Innovation and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. Being a social organisation that primarily specialises in B2C reuse repair models, Kringwinkel found this visit highly beneficial as it allowed them to gain further knowledge regarding novel sorting technologies associated with the digital and AI transition. They also discussed the current state of technological advancements and identified areas of innovation gaps in order to effectively tackle the challenge of reusing vs. recycling items

ECOSYSTEX, the European Community of Practice for a Sustainable Textile Ecosystem, launched in early 2023, counts now 26 EU-funded member projects.

Since our previous newsletter issue, we welcomed 7 new projects focusing on textile sustainability!

ECOSYSTEX Shaping the Future of Sustainable Textiles: Highlights from ECOSYSTEX Conference

The first ECOSYSTEX conference, held in Barcelona, Spain on 19-20 October 2023, brought together researchers, industry leaders, and policymakers to bridge EU-funded textile research and sustainable textile practices. The event connected over 100 participants from 16 European countries.

The conference highlighted several critical challenges in the textile sustainability sector: lack of reliable and up-to-date data, fragmented supply chains, regulatory ambiguity, insufficient tools, incentives not aligning with sustainability goals... the conference stressed the need for research, technology development, standardisation, and more public funding to drive systemic transformation in the textile sector. The conference also included plenary sessions where European institution representatives provided updates on regulatory developments concerning the EU Textile Strategy.

Six of the 26 member projects within ECOSYSTEX co-organised the conference: CISUTAC, HEREWEAR, IRISS, the New Cotton Project, RegioGreenTex and the TRICK Project. Each of them hosted an interactive workshop session designed to validate their internal project work with external experts, and collect input for shaping their future research and development endeavours.

Read the highlights of the conference

Identifying Research Gaps and Needs for the Green Transition of the European Textile Ecosystem: Insights from the ECOSYSTEX Community

The sustainability transition of the European textile ecosystem requires significant advances in scientific and practical knowledge, and step changes in technological capacities.

As a results of two months of collaboration between the researchers, industry experts and other stakeholders involved in the ECOSYSTEX project members, ECOSYSTEX published a first Input Paper identifying the most pressing and impactful research gaps and needs to be filled to enable the green transition of the European textile ecosystem.

Read ECOSYSTEX Input Paper

The ECOSYSTEX Insights Series continues!

Two 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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