Circular Textiles: Technologies for sustainable value creation

The textile industry faces mounting waste challenges due to fast fashion, mixed-material compositions, and inefficient recycling technologies. With a projected 60% increase in textile waste by 2030, current recycling and reuse infrastructures struggle to keep up. Many promising fiber-to-fiber recycling and sorting technologies remain unscaled, limiting their impact.

This workshop will explore how emerging technologies in Optics, Photonics, and New Materials can drive sustainability in the textile sector. Key topics include:

• How can technology address challenges in the textile industry?
• What steps are needed to bridge the gap between technology providers and the textile industry?
• How can technologies be adapted to meet real-world industry needs?
• What impact do regulations, such as Ecodesign, Sustainable Product Declaration (ESPD), and PFAS restrictions, have on the textile industry and its enabling technologies?

Together, we will identify actionable solutions and discuss how technology-driven approaches can contribute to circular and sustainable practices in the textile industry.

Current industry challenges:

Sustainable Finishing Processes: Traditional textile finishing relies on water-intensive dyeing and chemical treatments, generating significant environmental impact. The challenge is to develop alternatives that maintain quality while reducing water and chemical use.

Optimized Cutting & Production: The textile industry struggles with high material waste and inefficient production processes. There is a need for solutions that minimize waste while supporting precision and scalability in manufacturing.

Garment Disassembly for Fiber Sorting: The recycling of textiles is hindered by complex garment structures, such as buttons, zippers, and mixed fibers. Efficient and scalable disassembly methods are required to improve fiber recovery.

Automated Textile Sorting for Recycling & Reuse: The accurate identification and sorting of textile fibers remain a major challenge, limiting the effectiveness of current recycling processes. Advanced sorting technologies need to be integrated into textile waste management to enhance circularity.

Whom is it for?

We invite technology companies and researchers in Optics, Photonics, and New Materials looking to develop tailored solutions for the textile sector. We also encourage textile industry experts to join, offering their insights on current challenges and guiding the adaptation of new technologies.

Expected outcomes

• Identification of concrete technological solutions applicable to the textile industry, focusing on practical innovations across the value chain.
• Defining requirements for integrating tech solutions into a circular textile value chain in Berlin and Germany, ensuring alignment with industry needs and regulatory frameworks.
• Exploration of new markets in the textile domain for the technology providers, considering market demands, business opportunities, and conditions for successful commercialization of circular solutions.

Workshop Structure

to be updated

About the Project ‘Tech and Spaces for Circular Economy’

This webinar is organised as part of the ‘Tech and Spaces for Circular Economy’ project, led by Creative Climate Cities, Circular Berlin, and WISTA Management GmbH, addresses the challenges of implementing circular strategies. The project explores how innovations in optics, photonics, and materials sciences and spatial concepts can enhance and scale circular practices across industries.

Funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises part of the Master Plan Industrial City Berlin 2022 - 2026 (MPI), this initiative aims to drive resource-efficient production and manufacturing.

For more information on project goals, partners, and timeline, please visit our project webpage.

Host or Publisher Circular Berlin