The project will develop a cross-border value chain to promote the reuse and recycling of textile waste using innovative circular economy solutions.
GAIKER Technology Centre, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA), is taking part in the CircularTexEFA project, “Textile circularity in the border region: optimisation and cooperation for sorting, pre-treatment and recycling of textile waste”, which is co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg VI-A Spain-France-Andorra programme (POCTEFA 2021–2027).
The project, which will run from 2026 to 2028, brings together eleven organisations from Spain and France with the aim of establishing a cross-border circular textile value chain, by organising collection, reuse and recycling schemes for textile waste and promoting more sustainable management of these materials.
CircularTexEFA was created to address the challenge of reducing the volume of textile waste sent to landfill or incineration, by promoting its recovery and reintegration into new production cycles. To this end, the project brings together the stakeholders in the textile value chain — industry, social economy organisations, waste management companies, public authorities and technology centres — with the aim of creating synergies and accelerating the transition towards more circular models.
The methodology is structured around an initial phase of territorial analysis and assessment of textile waste collection and treatment systems, together with an evaluation of the technologies available for their processing. Based on this, an action plan will be drawn up in order to roll out of an efficient cross-border value chain. A demonstration pilot project will be launched later on to cover all stages of the process, from collecting and sorting textile waste to turning it into secondary raw materials using mechanical, thermomechanical and chemical recycling technologies, as well as manufacturing new products using recycled materials.
As part of the project, GAIKER, as an expert in recycling and circular economy, is helping to draw up the study and the action plan for the development of the cross-border textile recycling value chain. It will also research and demonstrate chemical recycling technologies for post-consumer polyester textile waste, with a view to producing high value-added products that can be reintroduced into the industry.
The project consortium
The CircularTexEFA consortium is made up of eleven organisations from Spain and France representing all the stages of the value chain in the textile and waste management sectors. Coordinated by ESTIA, the project includes PLAXTIL, KOOPERA, CETIA, CLOSSA, PICVISA, JR SL, SOKOA, LORPEN, GARBIKER Bizkaia and GAIKER.
Este proyecto está cofinanciado en un 65 % por la Unión Europea en el marco del programa Interreg VI-A España–Francia–Andorra (POCTEFA 2021–2027), cuyo objetivo es reforzar la integración económica y social de la zona transfronteriza.
