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Euratex, the European textile and clothing confederation, wants to move towards the creation of five textile waste processing centres in Europe, which should be installed in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy and Spain. The goal is to respond to one of the biggest challenges in the sector: circular economy.
The increase in the amount of textiles collected – which in 2025 is expected to reach values between 4.2 and 5.5 million tons – requires, according to the confederation, “a large-scale and coordinated system for collecting, selecting and recycling all textile waste by 2024”, said Euratex in a statement.
The idea is to “transform the textile waste problem into an opportunity”, namely through its reintroduction into the value chain. The five centres, called ReHubs, will be coordinated in order to reduce waste as much as possible.
Most of the textiles collected are clothing, 65% of which remain in Europe. Of these, about 50% to 60% can still be reused, 10% to 15% are converted into low-value products, 10% are incinerated or landfilled, and the remaining 15% to 30% is recycled. “From an environmental and economic point of view, it is a loss simply to send abroad or incinerate more than four million tons of raw materials”, says the confederation.
These five centres may create more than 120 thousand direct jobs in Europe.