Objective of TRUSTex
The textile industry is currently ranked as the fourth most impactfull sector on the environment. The industry is in urgent need of transformational change to a circular, sustainable and competitive economy.
The main objective of TRUSTex is to provide the EC, Member States and businesses with recommendations addressing EPR viability hotspot areas (collection, sorting, recycle, reuse, governance, and policy aspects), while laying the foundation for a sustainable and circular textile industry (eco-design, transparent information system). The recommendations and strategies will align seamlessly with the EU´s Textile Strategy and fully support the Waste Framework Directive. To achieve this goal, the project will discuss, co-define, test, and recommend best practices to improve the feasibility and impact of the EPR schemes, relying on novel technologies and stakeholder cooperation. To better track the progress of the project, the consortium is proposing 8 objectives.
Main approach of TRUSTex
The project begins with WP1, which analyzes linear versus circular material flows, global textile industry trends, and climate impacts to identify key areas for implementing EPR and ESPR schemes, providing guidance for subsequent work packages. Building on this foundation, WP2 focuses on deploying digital infrastructure, including blockchain, data carriers, and interoperability solutions, to enable transparent and sustainable textile value chains. In parallel, WP3 addresses technical aspects of circularity, exploring collection, sorting, and disassembly technologies to improve textile reuse and recycling in real-world scenarios. Governance is the focus of WP4, which examines the implementation of EPR schemes and their impact on supply chains and second-hand markets. To ensure effective communication and collaboration, WP5 facilitates ongoing dialogue between policymakers, industry stakeholders, consumers, and value chain actors through activities such as stakeholder boards, citizen panels, and online labs. Complementing these efforts, WP6 raises awareness, disseminates results, and offers training to empower both consumers and industry actors in supporting circularity and EPR strategies. Finally, WP7 focuses on exploiting the project’s results, providing recommendations to policymakers and industry stakeholders, and estimating the impacts of different EPR and eco-design strategies based on insights from earlier work packages. WP8 will handle the overall legal, financial, administrative, and technical coordination in the project, ensuring a systematic progression of the project towards the fulfilment of the objectives.
The sofia and itp:ne team work in depth on the Regulatory landscape analysis [WP1], governance aspects on DPP [WP2] and deriving governance best practice elements of EPR schemes [WP4]. In addition to these leading roles, both, sofia and itp:ne, will support the consortium in many other tasks.
The project started in January 2025 and will end in December 2027. The total cost of the project is 7.6 million euros.
The unique benefits of TRUSTex
TRUSTex stands out as a vehicle for transforming the textile sector, backed by the involvement of leading retail companies like SANKO, DECATHLON, H&M, or PUMA, either as beneficiaries or Advisory Board members. Their market influence is pivotal for sector-wide change. Coupled with renowned tech developers and R&I entities providing top expertise, the proposal is distinguished by a clear, impact-led action plan. This plan targets direct value chain effects and influences broader EPR scheme design via recommendations. Uniquely, the approach relies on dialogue as the key to aligning the diverse interests across the value chain, from consumer to authorities, ensuring transformative sectoral impact beyond the scope of the project.