Companies and associations from the textile sector met on 12 March in Malaga to participate in the first VERDE Academy workshop on European textile circularity policies, organised by Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía (CTA), the Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas (CERTH), and DIADYMA, within the framework of the Transfiere 2025 Forum. The meeting aimed to analyse the current state of textile circularity policies and to propose improvements that facilitate the transition towards a more sustainable textile value chain.
Taking as a reference the recent revision of the EU Waste Framework Directive, which provides for separate waste collection and mandates the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textile producers — workshop participants analysed the implementation and impact of these policies at the local level and discussed possible action points.
The workshop was attended by more than 40 participants from eight countries: Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Portugal, Slovenia, and Lebanon. Representatives from organisations such as the Textile Industry Confederation (Texfor), the Ciedes Foundation, the Iberian Textile Recycling Association (Asirtex), Mayoral, Texlimca, the Spanish Association for Sustainability, Innovation and Circularity in Fashion (SIC Moda), The Loop Alliance, the Visión Circular association, and T-Neutral participated in the event.
The meeting began with a presentation by David Allo, Head of Sustainability at Texfor, who outlined the legal context of the textile sector and shared some success stories of entities and projects focused on circularity. Afterwards, Laura Robles, Head of Projects at the Ciedes Foundation, presented the work of the Malaga Global Metropolis Forum, a platform made up of councillors from 38 municipalities. This forum is dedicated to decision-making on key issues related to the strategic planning of the Málaga metropolitan area, such as the selective collection of textile waste.
Testing of the Knowledge Platform and Steering Committee
In addition to the first VERDE Academy event, the VERDEinMED partners held the testing session of the project’s Knowledge Platform on 11 March. In a hybrid format, the event brought together textile sector experts who collaborated in analysing this web tool and proposed improvements before its official launch. The session was led by Josep Casamada, Project Manager of the Tèxtils.CAT cluster. Experts from the Ruse Chamber of Commerce and Industry, AITEX, the University of Córdoba, the University of West Attica, Hilo Color Plus, and TITERA also participated.
On the same day, the partners and associates of VERDEinMED held their third Steering Committee meeting to discuss the scope of completed activities and plan the upcoming ones.
It was a great experience to share such inspiring moments in Malaga!
Our next stop will be in Sarajevo in April, to participate in the 3rd ISE Community of Practice (CoP) gathering of the Interreg Euro-MED Programme! ✈️
