This report represents the final version of the Report on benchmarking and technology watch. It describes W2BC strategic benchmark and technology watch. Benchmarking strategic tool assists in the achievement of excellence, enabling improvement by borrowing and adapting the successful ideas and practices of organizations while avoiding unproven or problematic strategies.

ECOSYSTEX Technical Working Group 4 (Renewable Materials & Standards) created an overview of the different types of renewable materials, with a focus on bio-based, regenerated and recycled, and of different types of material and their availability on the market as such, and in fibre form.

ECOSYSTEX Technical Working Group 4 (Renewable Materials & Standards) created a document providing an inventory of the standards related with renewable, bio-based and recycled materials, as well as a gap analysis indicating future needs for standards development, and a non-exhaustive overview over the existing private labels and certification schemes.

As part of the EU LIFE TREATS project, Lenzing Group and Södra have created a guide for designers and brands to enable circularity in textiles. The purpose of "Enabling Circularity - A designer's guide to fiber recyclability" is to share their experience of textile recycling, as well as its opportunities and limitations. Södra and Lenzing have a history of working together for over 10 years, developing textile pulp, and processes of textile recycling

The work provides an overview of the key instruments within the reach of local and regional authorities to improve the circularity of textile material flows, especially via citizens and engagement.

The work conducted led to two main outcomes: the creation of a unique dataset comprising 30,000 PCT garments , and the development of an AI model. The dataset includes images and annotations for each garment, capturing the complexities introduced by wear, tear, and alterations during the user phase. Unlike existing datasets that focus on pre-consumer textiles, this collection provides a more realistic foundation for developing digital sorting solutions.

The report analyses existing textile repair, reuse and recycling systems in the EU and the trends that influence their operation. Based on these findings, the research explores the reasons behind the difficulties observed and proposes solutions to overcome them. The report’s ultimate objective, aligned with the CISUTAC project’s goal, is to understand how to create an integrated circular textile value chain.

This report designs a future textile ecosystem starting by understating the current textile value chains and their challenges. Through the implementation of circular economy principles, knows as R-strategies, the report redesign them to enable sustainable production, use and reuse of textiles, as well as sustainable end of life options and recycling.

Upon completion, the pioneering New Cotton Project shared eight recommendations for making circular fashion a reality. Read more in the article by Brooke Roberts-Islam, writer, author, consultant and Founder of TECHSTYLER.

When speaking of sustainable textile, hemp may be the fibre of the future. Diving into its potential, the Hemp4Circularity NWE Interreg project is conducting promising hemp cultivation and processing trials. The first results highlight the challenges and opportunities of this innovative fibre for the industrial textile value chain within the NWE region.

This policy brief discusses which barriers exist that need to be addressed through new policies and policy improvements to support the transitioning to a Circular Biobased Economy (CBBE). It summarises what the limitations are of the linear fossil-based economy, it then discusses how it has become embedded in the EU policy.

The deliverable focuses on mapping and gap analysis of value chains for sustainable and circular textiles. While linear value chains are fairly straightforward, the move towards circularity opens up a wide range of new options for building value chains, for example by considering reuse, upcycling or all recycling options. This adds complexity and creates new types of obstacles.

This report focuses on the development of new indicators applicable for monitoring and evaluating the transition to circular bio-based systems

This report aims to prioritize barriers hindering the transition to circular bio-based economy (CBBE) and identify interdependencies among them, based on the work documented in D1.1 and D1.2. These findings lay the groundwork for policy actions, ensuring a smoother transition to circular bio-based economies.

This position paper serves as a guide for policymakers, offering insights to bolster the growth of a bio-fabricated textile industry in Europe. It gives them an overview on biofabricated materials, technical, sustainability and economic aspects and finally it gives policy recommendations for a new European biobased economy.

The self-assessment tool is developed to help profile SMEs and evaluate the recycling potential of their products and processes. The self-assessment tool supports businesses by giving feedback and suggestions for the next steps to be undertaken and- the support needed to grow and match with other SMEs, as part of the ecosystem. This tool must help the SMEs to detect their own capacities and shortcomings, identify coaching or training needs, provide links to complementary partnerships, benchmarks, and improve their strategies and approaches to eco-design, waste management and recycling.

The RGT Hubs' prime functions and ongoing actions reveals a focus on creating circular textile value chains, attracting and de-risking investments, offering SMEs access to infrastructure, and fostering a community of cross-fertilization for SMEs. The recommendation is for all hubs to continue and learn from successful actions, especially focusing on functionalities not yet implemented. Special attention is advised for actions related to attracting individual (SME) investments and enhancing competences in management and operations.

The findings in this report showcase the outcomes of a comprehensive stakeholder consultation with the objectives of identifying and confirming the challenges that impede progress towards a sustainable circular bio-based economy. These barriers encompass various areas such as environmental, economic, and social sustainability, along with technical, structural, and cultural challenges.

CISUSTAC’s open-sourced tool revolutionises the way we approach post-consumer textile waste by prioritising data points for efficient sorting to reuse, and recycling. The tool empowers the textile ecosystem to make informed decisions, driving a digital change in line with the upcoming digital product passport legislation, and enable a more accurate feedstock for the recycling industry and unlock potential for the reuse market

As part of the CISUTAC project, RISE and Centexbel (with the support of other partners) released a comprehensive report titled "Circular Transition Scenarios & Software for Post-Consumer Textile Waste Channelling" that serves as a guiding compass, offering insights into various pathways for Europe's textile industry to achieve a circular future.