Companies and associations from the textile sector met on 12 March in Malaga to participate in a workshop on European textile circularity policies organised by Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA) in the Transfiere 2025 Forum.
The meeting, framed within the European VERDEinMED project of which CTA is a partner, aimed to analyse the current situation of textile circularity policies and to propose improvements that facilitate the transition towards a more sustainable textile value chain.
Taking as a reference the recent revision of the EU Waste Framework Directive, which provides for separate waste collection and the mandatory introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes for textile producers, the workshop participants analysed the implementation and impact of these policies at local level and discussed possible action points.
The workshop was attended by more than 40 participants from 8 countries: Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Portugal, Slovenia and Lebanon. Representatives from organisations such as the Textile Industry Confederation (Texfor), the Ciedes Foundation, the Iberian Textile Recycling Association (Asirtex), Mayoral, Texlimca, the Spanish Association for Sustainability, Innovation and Circularity in Fashion (SIC Moda), The Loop Alliance, the Visión Circular association and T-Neutral participated in the workshop.
The meeting began with a presentation by David Allo, Head of Sustainability at Texfor, who presented the legal context of the textile sector and some success stories of entities and projects dedicated to circularity.
Afterwards, Laura Robles, Head of Projects at the Ciedes Foundation, explained the work of the Malaga Global Metropolis Forum, a platform made up of the councillors of 38 municipalities. This forum is dedicated to decision-making on key issues for the strategic planning of the metropolitan area of Málaga, such as the selective collection of textile waste.
Textile Knowledge Platform and awareness-raising campaign
VERDEinMED aims to reduce textile waste in the Mediterranean region. The project targets the entire textile value chain, from manufacturers to consumers, including waste managers, public sector figures and researchers.
To achieve its aims, VERDEinMED will develop tools and activities aimed at promoting sustainable practices in the sector, notably a Textile Knowledge Platform. This platform will be a website that will centralise the information generated by the project partners and will serve as a basis for the development of the rest of the activities.
In addition, VERDEinMED is developing an awareness-raising campaign on its social networks, based on interviews with citizens about their knowledge of the textile sector and its environmental impact.
It also highlights the creation of national hubs with actors from the quadruple helix, the organisation of living labs to educate consumers on issues related to the circular economy or the development of concept tests to validate sustainable solutions in the textile sector.
About VERDEinmED
VERDEinMED, ‘PreVEnting and ReDucing the tExtiles waste mountain in the MED area’, is a thematic project co-funded with nearly €3 million by the Interreg Euro-MED programme and its Sustainable and Innovative Economy mission. The initiative, launched in January 2024, brings together 10 partners and 15 associated entities from 11 countries, including research centres, companies, non-governmental organisations, public administrations, clusters and cooperatives. Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA) and Consorci de la Ribera are the only two Spanish entities participating in the project.
- Website: https://verdeinmed.interreg-euro-med.eu/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/verdeinmed/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/verdeinmed/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/verdeinmed/
- Living lab survey: https://shorturl.at/RIXvN
