A close look at the second life of materials
The three-day programme began with a visit to SunTekstil’s facilities, where partners had the chance to see first-hand how innovative processes can give new life to textile waste through advanced chemical recycling solutions.
Regenerated fibres with a “natural” touch, clean processes and controlled flows highlighted a key message: we can no longer rely on virgin materials. Scalable and reliable circular technologies are now a concrete necessity.
The technical core of the project: progress and challenges
The consortium moved into the project’s technical sessions. During the PLASTICE General Assembly, partners shared progress across the project’s technological value chain, including:
- microwave-assisted pyrolysis for mixed plastic waste;
- hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) for contaminated and multilayer plastics;
- gasification and catalytic conversion into circular building blocks;
- enzymatic hydrolysis for PET textile fibre recovery;
- digitalisation, AI, advanced sorting and feedstock quality.
As highlighted by Clara Jarauta from CIRCE, the project’s Technical Coordinator:
“We are developing new technologies that complement existing market solutions and integrating mechanical and chemical recycling in a truly complementary way. Current solutions cannot cover the full spectrum of materials society uses: this is where PLASTICE can make a real difference.”
International workshop: a dialogue between institutions, industry and civil society
The programme concluded with the international workshop, which gathered voices from institutions, industry, research and civil society.
The workshop began under the moderation of Rocío Renna, Sustainable Projects Technical Coordinator at RINA, who captured its purpose in her opening words:
“To create a shared space where we can openly discuss the technological, economic and regulatory challenges that hinder textile and plastic recycling, and explore practical solutions to accelerate circularity.”
The event brought together a diverse and complementary set of perspectives: international financial institutions represented by the Türkiye World Bank, European policy experts from the EU Delegation in Türkiye, pioneering companies, and civil society organisations working toward sustainable transformation.
During his intervention, Özgür Öcal from the EU Delegation to Turkey emphasised the importance of international cooperation:
“We must recognise shared challenges such as climate change, trade barriers, global disputes and pollution from microplastics and textile waste. To remain competitive, the EU and Türkiye must work together.”
Offering a global economic perspective, Humberto López of the World Bank in Türkiye highlighted the importance of productivity, regulatory clarity, stable feedstock availability and targeted investments as key conditions to bring advanced recycling technologies to industrial scale.
The workshop concluded with an open exchange involving all participants, shaping ideas and priorities for the next steps.
A memorandum coming soon
The discussions held during the workshop will feed into a Memorandum of Understanding, expected soon, which will summarise the strategic and operational conclusions emerging from the event and guide the collective next steps toward more effective circularity.
Closing thanks to all PLATICE partners and participants
PLASTICE now moves into the phase of validating pilot results, strengthening technology replication and contributing to the development of future European policies on advanced recycling.
A warm thank you to SunTekstil for hosting the event, and to all partners, speakers and participants for three days of meaningful collaboration and shared vision.
Photo credits: Sun Tekstil
