València-based Spanish plastics technology center Aimplas is one of 20 organizations from 10 nations that are a part of the tExtended project, which is being supported by the EU with €15 million.

By using digital technologies and data-driven solutions, it seeks to design and demonstrate efficient textile recovery, waste evaluation, and recycling procedures that will support a circular textile infrastructure.

Aimplas will be specifically involved in the identification and classification of textiles using optical separation systems, the pre-processing, and recovery of materials for recycling, the recycling of textile waste through the solvolysis process – including industrial textile products and polymer mixtures like PES/PUR – and the formulation and production of new polyurethane coatings.

tExtended project coordinator Dr. Pirjo Heikkilä of the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, said that the goal is to develop a master plan for a sustainable textile ecosystem. The tExtended initiative will maximize textile flows and sustainably and safely preserve the value of resources. They will confirm the replicability of the created solutions and their potential to cut textile waste by 80% through their extensive pilot tests.

Despite numerous research on textile flows in recent years, infrastructure and a systematic approach to data collection remain lacking.

The project's goal is to find solutions that will reduce CO2 emissions, provide job possibilities, and reduce waste. To ensure the viability of the developed model, local communities will be actively involved in the creation of the project's solutions.