The European Union has launched a new pilot initiative to develop a deposit return system for used textiles across Europe, backed by a €6 million investment from the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. The project known as TexMat aims to support increased collection, reuse and recycling of post-consumer textile items.

Under the initiative, consumers will be rewarded for returning reusable and recyclable textile products, while producers are notified when discarded items need formal waste management. Automated collection containers will help sort returned textiles by assessing quality and capturing material information using digital product passports (DPP), which are expected to be phased in across the EU in the near future. Pilot activities to test the system in real-world settings will take place in Finland and Spain, helping partners refine the concept and explore how it could be scaled across Europe.

The TexMat project’s approach responds to the challenge of growing textile waste in Europe. In 2022 an estimated 6.94 million tonnes of textile waste was generated, of which much was not separately collected and typically ended up mixed with household waste. By deploying consumer incentives, smart collection and data-driven decision tools, the scheme aims to ensure that a greater proportion of used textiles enters reuse or recycling streams rather than landfill or incineration.

For more information, see the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform announcement.