Aimplas, the Spanish plastics technology centre based in València, is one of 20 organisations from ten countries taking part in the €15 million EU-funded tExtended project.

Its aim is to develop and demonstrate effective textile recovery, waste evaluation and recycling processes by employing digital tools and data-driven solutions to support a circular textile infrastructure.

Specifically, Aimplas will be involved in the identification and classification of textiles using optical separation systems, the pre-processing and recovery of materials for recycling, the recycling of textile waste through the solvolysis process – including industrial textile products and polymer mixtures such as PES/PUR – and the formulation and production of new polyurethane coatings.

“We are effectively looking to create a master plan for a sustainable textile ecosystem,” says tExtended project coordinator Dr Pirjo Heikkilä of the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. “The tExtended project will optimise textile flows and retain the value of materials in a safe and sustainable way. Through our extensive pilot studies, we will verify the replicability of the developed solutions and their potential to reduce textile waste by 80%.”

Despite several studies about textile flows in recent years, there is still a lack of infrastructure and of a systemic method of collecting information.

The project’s ambition is to develop solutions intended to create new job opportunities as well as the reduction of waste and CO2 emissions. Local communities will be actively involved in the development of the project’s solutions to assure the feasibility of the model developed.

www.aimplas.es