ETSA News

Textile service companies unite to advance textile recycling in Europe 

The Secretariat is proud to share that a group of members of the European Textile Services Association (ETSA) has joined forces beyond traditional competitive boundaries to address one of the key challenges facing the textile value chain: how to scale end-of-life textile recycling in Europe. The joint initiative aims to develop practical and scalable solutions for textiles that have reached the end of their service life, reinforcing the sector's contribution to EU circular economy objectives and stronger European value chains.

The textile services industry has long operated on circular principles at industrial scale. Business models based on rental, reuse, repair, maintenance and extended product lifecycles already reduce overproduction and prevent waste. With this project, ETSA members are going one step further — demonstrating that textiles do not have to become waste once their service life ends, but can re-enter the value chain as valuable secondary raw materials.

The pilot brings together leading European textile service providers — Alsco, Bardusch, CWS Workwear, Lindström, Mewa and Salesianer — in collaboration with the Polish recycling company PPHU TUR. In its first phase, the initiative focuses on transforming end-of-life textiles into recycled fibres for use in insulation materials, industrial wipers and other textile products. These insulation materials can serve applications in sectors such as automotive and construction, where recycled fibres can replace virgin materials in a range of technical uses. By highlighting concrete applications, the project makes the impact of textile recycling tangible.

At the same time, the initiative stands out for its collaborative nature. Mathias Nell, Head of Sustainability at Salesianer and lead of the iniative, explains: "When industry players work together, innovation accelerates. Our initiative brings companies together to unlock textile circularity at scale." By pooling operational expertise and practical experience, the partners aim to address the limited availability of large-scale textile recycling capacity in Europe and help build a stronger industrial ecosystem.

The project is not only about technical feasibility; it is also about market transformation. Recycling can only succeed if stable demand exists for recycled materials. Through concrete commitments to recycled content and coordinated action across the value chain, participating companies are contributing to the emergence of a viable European recycling market. "Recycling needs a stable market. Our companies are building that market — step by step — through concrete commitments to recycled content."

In doing so, the pilot also strengthens Europe's resilience and strategic autonomy. By keeping materials within European value chains and reducing reliance on virgin raw materials and external suppliers, the initiative combines environmental and economic objectives.

Elena Lai, Secretary General of ETSA, underlines the broader ambition behind the project: "As textile service providers, we seek to encourage and support our members in their efforts to manage textiles efficiently during their use phase, but also to contribute to solutions for textiles at the end of their lifecycle."

Looking ahead, the longer-term aim is to explore scalable closed-loop solutions in which recycled fibres can serve as raw materials for new textile products, further embedding circularity into the sector's business model.

With this porject, ETSA members demonstrate that textile circularity does not stop at reuse and repair. It extends to rethinking end-of-life as a new beginning — and to building the foundations of a stronger, more resilient European textile ecosystem.

For more information, please contact Julien Bourgeois, our Policy and Communication Coordinator at julien.bourgeois@etsa-europe.org