The Solstice Project, which has reached its halfway stage aims to accelerate the transition from linear models to circular regional ecosystems in the textile industry, focusing on four key territories: Grenoble-Alpes Métropole (France), Berlin (Germany), Prato (Italy), and Catalonia (Spain).
The analysis has shown significant geographic imbalances: circular services such as repair, reuse, and recycling remain largely concentrated in urban centres, leaving suburban and rural areas underserved.
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It also suggests a uniform approach to circularity is ineffective with each region working within a distinct economic and infrastructural context.
For example, Berlin and Grenoble are primarily consumption hubs focused on creative repair, while Prato is defined by its industrial recycling capacity. Catalonia collects high volumes of textile waste but still relies heavily on landfills due to a lack of reuse infrastructure.
The project believes these insights highlight the need for region-specific strategies to effectively scale circular textile solutions across Europe.
The Solstice project has launched targeted pilots to actively involve citizens in the circular economy to demonstrate how behavioural change, supported by digital tools and local services, can significantly increase participation in circular textile practices.
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By GlobalDataSolstice partners have also achieved significant technical advancements addressing the most complex challenges of sorting and recycling identified during the ecosystem mapping phase.
This includes:
- Automated sorting: Pellenc ST successfully testing automated sorting lines on post-consumer textiles, producing high-quality feedstock for chemical recyclers with PET purity reaching greater than 96%.
- Elastane removal: Addressing complex blends, Next Technology Tecnotessile developed a thermo-chemical process that selectively removes elastane from mixed fabrics, enabling the recovery of polyester and polyamide for reuse.
- Decision support: To optimise these processes, Techtera launched Valoramix, a tool that uses economic simulation to help professionals visualise flows and identify the most viable valorisation pathways.
The Solstice project believes it is proving that moving to a circular textile industry isn’t just about one fix as it requires better data, consumer support, and advanced sorting and recycling technology to work together.
