VERDEinMED project analyzes European textile circularity policies in its first VERDE Academy workshop

Representatives from Texfor, Fundación Ciedes, Mayoral, Asirtex, Texlimca, SIC Moda, The Loop Alliance, the Circular Vision association and T-Neutral participated in the event, which was attended by more than 40 people.

In the VERDEinMED workshop, an initiative co-financed by the Interreg Euro-MED program to reduce textile waste in the Mediterranean, improvements have been proposed to facilitate the transition to a more sustainable textile value chain.

Companies and associations from the textile sector met on March 12 in Málaga (Spain) for the first workshop on European textile circularity policies under the European VERDEinMED project. The event, organized by Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA), the Centre for Research & Technology, Hellas (CERTH), and Diadyma S.A., took place at the Transfiere 2025 Forum. It aimed to analyze the current state of textile circularity policies and propose improvements to accelerate the transition toward a more sustainable textile value chain.

This workshop is part of the VERDE Academy, a series of meetings to be held in different countries to promote and facilitate the implementation of European textile circularity policies.

Taking as a reference the recent revision of the EU Waste Framework Directive, which mandates separate waste collection and the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textile producers, participants analyzed the implementation and impact of these policies at the local level and discussed possible action points.

The workshop gathered more than 40 participants from 8 countries: Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Portugal, Slovenia, and Lebanon. Representatives from organizations such as the Textile Industry Confederation (Texfor), Fundación Ciedes, the Iberian Textile Recycling Association (Asirtex), Mayoral, Texlimca, the Spanish Association for Sustainability, Innovation and Circularity in Fashion (SIC Moda), The Loop Alliance, the Circular Vision Association, and T-Neutral took part in the discussions.

The session opened with a presentation by David Allo, Head of Sustainability at Texfor, who provided an overview of the legal framework for the textile sector and shared success stories of circularity-focused initiatives. Laura Robles, Head of Projects at Fundación Ciedes, then presented the work of the Málaga Global Metropolis Forum, a platform comprising councilors from 38 municipalities. This forum plays a key role in strategic planning for the metropolitan area, including initiatives for selective textile waste collection.

Textile Knowledge Platform and awareness campaign
ERDEinMED aims to reduce textile waste in the Mediterranean region by addressing the entire textile value chain, from manufacturers to consumers, including waste managers, policymakers, and researchers. To achieve its goals, the project will develop tools and activities to promote sustainable practices, with a particular focus on the Textile Knowledge Platform, a dedicated website that will centralize project-generated information and serve as a foundation for other initiatives.

In addition, VERDEinMED is developing an awareness campaign in 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 of the quadruple helix, the organization of living labs to educate consumers on issues related to the circular economy or the development of proofs of concept 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 centers, companies, non-governmental organizations, public administrations, clusters and cooperatives.