The project, supported by funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, brings together 14 partners from across the textile sector’s value chain.
It aims to address textile waste by encouraging consumers to return reusable and recyclable garments through a system that offers financial rewards and direct notifications to producers when items require waste management.
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Pilot activities will take place in Finland and Spain, where automated collection containers will sort clothing, assess quality, and record material information using digital product passports.
These passports, expected to become standard across the EU in the coming years, will support efficient processing and traceability of returned textiles.
The scale of the issue is underlined by figures from 2022, which show that Europe produced approximately 6.94 million tonnes of textile waste, equating to 16 kilograms per person.
Of this, nearly 11 kilograms per person was not separately collected and typically entered household waste streams destined for landfill or incineration.
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By GlobalDataThe TexMat project partners seek to increase separate collection for recycling or reuse, in accordance with extended producer responsibility requirements, with a view to reducing landfill volumes.
TexMat Finland VTT Technical Research Centre project leader Elina Ilén said: “TexMat solution has great potential to transform the collection and resale of used but still valuable garments, supporting second-hand markets while enabling consumers to monetise their textiles.
“By developing a cost-effective, robust, and user-friendly solution, we aim to relieve consumers of the need to evaluate which garments can be resold for reuse or recycling. Automated collection and sorting will also support textile waste management operators by quickly and accurately separating garments suitable for reuse from those destined for disposal, reducing reliance on manual work.”
Academic and research institutions involved in the consortium include VTT in Finland, TTK University of Applied Sciences in Estonia, the University of A Coruña in Spain, University of Vaasa in Finland, and RISE in Sweden.
Civil society engagement is provided by HUMANA Fundación Pueblo para Pueblo from Spain, the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Reuse Centre in Finland, and Green Liberty based in Latvia.
Industry expertise includes second-hand market knowledge from Emmy Clothing Company in Finland and integration of digital product passports by Protex Balti in Estonia.
Technology development is led by Rovimatica from Spain, STAM SRL from Italy, and IRIS Technology Solutions from Spain.
The Netherlands’ YAGHMA contributes data analysis on public perception and policy developments related to textile circularity.
The TexMat initiative will run until March 2029 as partners continue technical development and explore how the system may be scaled across Europe.
In September last year, the EU Parliament approved a new directive to reduce the footprint of textile waste that will see the fashion industry having to cover all textile recycling costs.
