The textile industry uses the fourth largest amount of primary raw materials and water and is the fifth largest for greenhouse gas emissions use. Therefore, it is important to decrease the impact of textiles on the environment, which we do through the 5Rs: Refuse/Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Repurpose, and Recycle.

The best kind of waste is the one that does not exist. So, we promote zero waste and perform Refuse/Reduce measures, including hosting workshops to raise people’s and the private sector’s awareness of waste and promote zero waste.

We aim to make people think more about the second life of what they buy. So, for Reuse, we ensure that the sorted textiles fit their initial use in terms of quality and safety, organise their sale through second-hand shops and help with marketing to attract buyers.

SOLSTICE also organises activities to give people specific Repair skills. For example, we partner with people who mend textiles, organise self-repair activities through ‘repair cafés’ and give tutorials on do-it-yourself solutions.

To explain the Repurpose pillar, we encourage people to give their textiles a new lease of life by finding other uses for them. But when none of the other solutions work, SOLSTICE has developed chemical recycling solutions for four major families of polymers used in textiles, which make up our Recycle pillar.

We have demonstrated SOLSTICE in four EU territories, three of which are the cities of Prato (Italy), Berlin (Germany) and Grenoble (France) and the region of Catalonia (Spain). In each, we will define territory profiles with tailor-made action plans to guide circular implementation.

We chose these territories because they are complementary in size, organisation and technological knowledge at a quadruple helix level, which includes academia, policy, industry and citizens.

Grenoble-Alpes Métropole and Berlin are creative cities, attractive to young people. Grenoble puts ecologically sustainable territorial development at the centre of its policies and Berlin offers a wide range of circular economy stakeholders in the field of textiles. In both cities we focus on textile Reuse and Repair, and Repurpose in Berlin.

We are developing a standardised manual for repairing and repurposing textiles and we work with a network of self-repair service companies to tell people about ways to extend the lifespan of their clothes.

Prato is a city that has been known for its textiles since the 18th century. There, we focus on Reuse, sorting and Recycling by working with the city’s dense and diverse network of micro-enterprises.

To enable this, we are developing a traceability system based on the mineral textile profile that will become the basis for a Digital Product Passport. This will improve textile supply chain traceability and transparency.

Catalonia is the project's largest pilot but it has the lowest population density with a wide variety of cities and also has a strong textile industry history. Catalonia will focus on Reuse and Recycling for which use chemical recycling technologies that will be able to process textile and plastic materials that cannot currently be recycled.

These new eco- and cost-efficient technologies focus on recycling textile polymers, coatings and high-value plastics to minimise incineration and landfill disposal.

SOLSTICE aims to share ideas and good practices between these demonstration territories to replicate them in other cities and regions.

Since 1 January 2025, the Waste Framework Directive has required all EU Member States to establish separate textile waste collection systems, meaning it is now mandatory for municipalities to separate textiles from general waste.

The new EPR regulation should enable sustainable management of textile waste across the EU. This regulation should incentivise textile producers to reduce waste and increase the circularity of their products by making them responsible for the costs of textile waste management.

As one of 50 EU-funded textile sustainability projects in the ‘European Community of Practice for a Sustainable Textile Ecosystem’ (or ECOSYSTEX), SOLSTICE aims to accelerate collaboration and highlight to industry stakeholders and policymakers areas in need of immediate action. We also share opportunities for our replicable and scalable solutions in the four territories.

To do so, we will produce a report with summaries of the four pilot territory profiles and their key findings, replicable blueprints of circular interventions and a policy brief to support regions to align their actions with each other.

To learn more about SOLSTICE, visit its profile on the CCRI website.