On 19-20 November, Textile ETP Secretary General Lutz Walter inaugurated the 4th International Conference Circular Economy for Textiles and Plastics. The event, organised by our members Centexbel and Fedustria, took place in Ostend, Belgium, and gathered key players from across Europe to discuss advancements in circular economy practices for textiles and plastics.

On 12-13 November 2024, Textile ETP, in collaboration with Textils.CAT, hosted a two-day event in Barcelona, Spain. Project Manager Judith Bosch, and Communications Officer Matteo Mainiero, alongside members of the SmartX Innovation Hub, immersed themselves in the region’s advanced textile landscape, connecting with industry leaders and exploring pioneering developments.

The T-REX project’s policy roundtable in Brussels on 12 November gathered experts and leaders committed to advancing Europe’s sustainability efforts. Concluding the event, our Secretary General Lutz Walter reflected on the discussions and emphasised the core themes that resonated throughout the day.

When we started our journey in 2021, we defined the aim of TRICK project like this: “TRICK will provide affordable and standardised enabler to move SMEs closer to circular economy. The project supports the adoption, tracing and demonstration of sustainable approaches by means of an innovative and circular product information management system, based on a data collection platform secured by Blockchain and integrated with an open marketplace for the matched services”.

‎Regularly, our Secretary General Lutz Walter shares his insights and knowledge through his blogposts, covering a wide range of topics related to textile sustainability and innovation. Follow his blog to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges that the textile industry is facing today.

Next year, the 19th Textile ETP Annual Conference will be organised in partnership with AITEX and will place as a physical event on 12-14 May 2025 in their facilities in Alcoy, Spain.

On 21 October 2024, Textile ETP Project Manager Judith had the opportunity to visit the Technical Park of Borås in Sweden, a proud member of the SmartX Innovation Hub, where she explored their Smart Textiles showroom and discovered projects that are not only transforming the textile industry, but increasing the possibilities for e-textiles and medical wearables, highlighting how textiles are evolving into advanced tools with significant health application.

The ECOSYSTEX Conference, held in Milan, Italy on 15-16 October 2024, brought together leading researchers, industry experts, and policymakers to foster collaboration between EU-funded textile research and sustainable textile practices. The event attracted over 120 in-person attendees and more than 100 virtual participants from across Europe.

CISUTAC partners gathered at the General Assembly to share among the consortium the latest updates about the project. The meeting delved into various work packages aimed at increasing circularity and sustainability in textiles and clothing in Europe.

Textile ETP Project Manager Judith Bosch moderated a panel at the Strentex Project’s final event, hosted by the University of Novi Sad, one of our SmartX members. The conference brought together experts to share the latest breakthroughs in smart materials, stretchable circuits, wearable bioelectronics, and flexible heaters.

This 12-month project, funded with a €60,000 grant under the Erasmus+ Small-scale Partnerships in Vocational Education and Training (KA210-VET), aims to revolutionise textile education by fostering knowledge transfer between industry professionals and educational institutions. 

On 30 September 2024, our Community Manager Kamilla Drubina had a chance to speak at the Sustainable Textile Forum in Budapest. Kamilla discussed the latest developments in textile sustainability at the European level, and highlighted Textile ETP's activities supporting the sustainable transformation of the EU textile sector.