EU puts €11m into blended textile recycling push

BRUSSELS – The European Commission has launched a new call for proposals, offering up to €11 million to support research into advanced recycling technologies for mixed post‑consumer textile waste. The call has a particular emphasis on blended fibre textiles that have long challenged recyclers.

The new initiative targets the end-of-life phase of textile products, noting that textiles are the “fourth highest-pressure category for primary raw materials and water use, and the fifth largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU” and a significant contributor to microplastic pollution.