About CISUTAC
The production and consumption of textile products continue to grow, together with their impact on the environment, due to a lack of reuse, repair and recycling of materials. Quality, durability, and recyclability are often not being set as priorities in the design and manufacturing of clothing (EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, March 2022).
CISUTAC aims to remove current bottlenecks in order to increase textile circularity in Europe. The objective is to minimise the sector’s total environmental impact by developing sustainable, novel, and inclusive large-scale European value chains.
CISUTAC covers a relevant part of the textile sector and shows how to close loops at product and at material level. Short closing loops will be developed, in 3 pilots, by:
working on 2 material groups representing almost 90% of all textile fibre materials:
focusing on products from 3 sub-sectors experiencing varying circularity bottlenecks:
CISUTAC also raises awareness among EU citizens about the environmental impact of buying new clothes and the benefits of reusing, donating and shopping second hand textiles. Thanks to the stores, e-commerce platforms and social media networks of partners, CISUTAC expects to reach around two million people.
CISUTAC is a Horizon Europe project, co-funded by the European Union. It started on 1 September 2022 and will last for 48 months. It receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No. 101060375.
3 pilots to demonstrate the feasibility and value of:
Repair and disassembly
via semi-automated workstations, as a service in both for profit and non profit environment
Sorting
for higher value in reuse and recycling using software that will be able to prompt the operator with valuable information
Circular garments
via ‘fibre-to-fibre’ recycling of polyester and cotton, and design for circularity
