PESCO-UP Newsletter

Towards a more data and image-driven recycling future

Recycling mixed textile waste is a critical challenge for the textile industry, and with growing demand for circular economy solutions, the need to deal with polyester/cotton blends, using two of the most common textile fibres, has become especially urgent.

Through innovative recycling strategies, PESCO-UP aims to reshape the way we recycle these fibres. One first step was to propose minimum data requirements for the recycling value chain. TEXroad, VTT, Reverse Resources and other project partners worked on these requirements for imaging and data technologies to help enable a more efficient and transparent circular value chain.

PESCO-UP at Dornbirn-GFC 2024

In September 2024, Heli Kangas from Valmet presented the challenges, solutions and opportunities linked with piloting and scaling up of sustainable and circular textile fibre processing. Heli also presented PESCO-UP, highlighting its role in addressing the key challenges of circularity and sustainability in the textile industry.

PESCO-UP is now developing cellulose films

As part of PESCO-UP, partner VTT is expanding the project’s product portfolio with laboratory scale regenerated cellulose films made from cotton fraction originating from mixed cotton/polyester textile waste.

PESCO-UP at the ECOSYSTEX Conference 2024

In October 2024, in Milan, our project partner Traci Kinden from TEXroad presented PESCO-UP’s work on minimum data requirements for recycling, focusing on the significance of feedstock data. Traci also explored multi-purpose data flows, demonstrating how robust data systems can help align supply and demand within the textile recycling marketplace. The presentation highlighted the critical role of transparent data exchange in meeting precise material specifications and streamlining recycling operations.

PESCO-UP at the 4th International Conference on Circular Economy in Textiles

In November 2024, PESCO-UP project partners from VTT, Textile ETP, Nord Bioproducts Group, and Centexbel attended the 4th International Conference on Circular Economy in Textiles and Plastics in Ostend, Belgium. The project was showcased through a poster, sparking engaging discussions with experts in the sorting, separation, and recycling of end-of-life textiles, composites, and nonwovens.

PESCO-UP partners meet online for project consortium meeting

On 2-3 December 2024, we hosted our project consortium meeting and third General Assembly online, where we shared among the consortium updates on key developments, such as the decolouration trials and mechanical separation tests of CO-PES blended fibres conducted, as well as valuable insights into mechanical and chemical separation methods. A highlight of the meeting was a workshop on Techno-Economic Assessment and Life Cycle Analysis, which helped us gain a clearer understanding of the economic and sustainability impacts of our innovations.

Click on the photos to meet Patricia Urban from CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies), and Lutz Walter from Textile ETP, and discover their activities within PESCO-UP and their hopes for the project!

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HADEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.