The global consumption of textiles is increasing, with global production of the two most relevant fibres, cotton and polyester, expected to grow by 40% before 2023. There is also no EU-wide plan on how to deal with the existing and anticipated textile waste: currently less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing in a closed-loop process while 87% is landfilled or incinerated. By January 2025 new EU Directive 2018/851 will require all member states to establish a separate household textile waste collection and respect increasing minimum recycling goals, but the pure legislative approach cannot alone solve the growing textile waste problem. Based on estimates from experts, we see that 1% of textile waste entering closed loops leads to 100B euros market loss each year. If a 30% recycling rate is reached (similar to average plastic packaging recycling rates), we will be able to valorize a 30 billion euros/year market. The ambition of T-REX is to contribute to a paradigm shift from household textile waste into desired feedstock. Moreover, we aim to demonstrate that this new commodity and the business models based on it can be completely implemented within the EU. By involving major players across the whole value chain, we aim to demonstrate that a new ecosystem approach, with harmonized methods and quality criteria, can lead to a better understanding of our current textile waste and therefore better upcycling rates into new garments. We also intend to demonstrate that such products can appeal to consumers while at the same time be designed for further recycling. Our goal is to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% across the complete value chain by 2030 by helping to end plastic waste. This project will arm the EU with a commercially viable option to tackle the textile waste and the environmental problems it causes, whilst offering new fields to explore for EU businesses, new know-how for our citizens and, new workforces for the future.

Sustainable innovation in the textile value chain is difficult and time consuming, as the industry is highly fragmented and specialized. The intention is to form an umbrella across the value chain, which allows to jointly define and push the boundaries of the most sustainable cellulosic filament currently available on a “pre-industrial” scale – Lyocell filament. As the starting point is at a TRL5 (pilot) with key drivers and innovators being within the industry (not in basic research), the actual amount of relevant scientific (as in basic research) publications is rare. Lyocell filament has been introduced to the market in small volumes in 2017, but the development of the value chain and the overall market acceptance is still at an early stage. Lyocell filament has the potential to achieve this: continuous-filament yarns (or filament yarns) are smooth to touch, lacking the bulk of staple fiber yarns and can be used to produce a wide range of woven and knitted fabrics for various textiles and clothing. The global filament market exceeds the global staple fiber market, but is still vastly dominated by fossil-based, non-recyclable materials (foremost PET and Polyamide). No significant innovations have been introduced on an industrial scale in decades, however the environmentally friendly, closed-loop lyocell process has been established already in the early 2000s. A European-based global innovator has developed a Lyocell filament (LF) process to a state to improve both commercialization and sustainability with a consortium of key partners along the value chain. The proposed innovation project aims to catalyze further development and validation of key production processes along the value chain; to define business models and plans to enable market uptake within 1–2 years post-project i.e. by 2030.