Textile circularity through advanced processing and manufacturing technologies and system approaches (IA) (Textiles for the Future partnership)

This Destination brings together the research and innovation for a globally competitive European industry through the twin green and digital transition, and the availability, development, use, reuse and disposal of chemicals, advanced materials and critical raw materials.

The Competitiveness Compass announces initiatives that should be served directly by industry-linked activities in Cluster 4, through new, focused R&I activities, but also through the activities supported up to now:

• Clean Industrial Deal adopted in February 2025;
• Critical Raw Materials Act;
• Advanced Materials Communication and future Advanced Materials Act planned for 2026;
• Future Circular Economy Act planned for 2026;
• Steel and Metals Action Plan adopted in March 2025;
• European Chemicals Industry Action Plan adopted in July 2025;
• Industrial action plan for the European automotive sector adopted in March 2025; and
• Strategy on research and technology infrastructures, with regard to technology infrastructures and the valorisation of knowledge.

In order to better translate these policy priorities into actions, to integrate the latest inputs from the partnerships, and to achieve synergies, this Work Programme part adopts a more integrated approach. The headings used under the two industry-focused destinations in previous work programmes, reflecting different partnerships and industrial sectors, are replaced by new headings making strongly interconnected contributions to the corresponding expected impacts in the Strategic Plan 2025-27, on green and digital transition and on autonomy in raw and advanced materials.

The new approach takes into account R&I investments under previous work programmes and intends to introduce more synergies with other pillars (notably the European Innovation Council under Pillar III) as well as with Cluster 5. Topics in this Work Programme increasingly combine the priorities of different partnerships to enable synergies, e.g. with the Investment fund, while continuing to address the particularities of each partnership. The development of new and cross-cutting technologies will help transform existing value chains and create new ones.

In addition to this Work Programme part, Cluster 4 participates in a horizontal Clean Industrial Deal Call, aiming to increase the competitiveness and decarbonisation of industry. The initiative will allow Horizon Europe beneficiaries to feed the EU deployment pipeline with R&I solutions close to market uptake and deployment, whilst also supporting the development by 2035 of a new batch of industry-led demonstrators designed for higher market readiness.

In addition to decarbonisation, manufacturing and energy-intensive industries need to embrace the circular economy as a key pillar in the design of their value chains. This will be fundamental to their resource efficiency (in terms of materials, energy and water). Particularly important in this context is the upcycling of secondary raw materials and waste; de- and re-manufacturing; and the development of sustainable and resource-efficient industrial processes

This Work Programme continues to promote across the calls the application of Safe and Sustainable by Design approach incorporating early and parallel considerations of innovation design choices on impacts on health, environment, climate and other sustainability parameters as a way of achieving stated policy objectives and fostering quick market uptake.

Where projects are asked to contribute to the development of safe and sustainable products, projects should take into account safety concerns for consumers as well as the organisational health and safety aspects for industrial workers.

Finally, to support start-ups and scale-ups, this Work Programme includes support for technology infrastructures and valorisation of knowledge.

Business cases and exploitation strategies for industrialisation:

This section applies only to those topics in this Destination, for which proposals should demonstrate the expected outcomes by including a business case and exploitation strategy for industrialisation.

A business case and a credible initial exploitation strategy are essential components in the ultimate success of an industry-based project, as well as its prospects to attract further investments for deployment. They will both be decisive factors under the impact criterion, and proposers are encouraged to use the extended page limit to present a carefully considered business case and exploitation strategy, backed by the management of the companies involved.

The business case should demonstrate the expected impact of the proposal in terms of enhanced market opportunities for the participants and deployment in the EU, in the short to medium term. It should describe the targeted market(s); estimated market size in the EU and globally; user and customer needs; and demonstrate that the solutions will match the market and user needs in a cost-effective manner; and describe the expected market position and competitive advantage.

The exploitation strategy should identify obstacles, requirements and necessary actions involved in reaching higher TRLs (Technology Readiness Levels), for example: securing the required investments, including through possible synergies with other programmes; accessing the required skills; matching value chains; enhancing product robustness; securing industrial integrators; and user acceptance.

For TRLs 6 and 7, a credible strategy to achieve future full-scale deployment in the EU is expected, indicating the intentions of the industrial partners after the end of the project.

Where relevant, in the context of skills, it is recommended to develop training material to endow workers with the right skillset in order to support the uptake and deployment of new innovative products, services, and processes developed in the different projects. This material should be tested and be scalable, and can potentially be up-scaled through the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). This will help the European labour force to close the skill gaps in the relevant sectors and occupational groups and improve employment and social levels across the EU and associated countries.

Where projects are asked to contribute to the development of safe and sustainable products, projects should take into account safety concerns for consumers and the organisational health and safety aspects for industrial workers.

For topics in this destination, consortia (if selected for funding) will be called upon to cooperate with the relevant parts of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), in order to inform the next stages of EU technology and innovation policies.

• INnovation Centre for Industrial Transformation and Emissions (INCITE) (https://innovation-centre-for-industrial-transformation.ec.europa.eu/).
• The Energy and Industry Geography Lab: EIGL (https://energy-industry-geolab.jrc.ec.europa.eu/).

Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in both Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) falling under this destination. For additional information please see “Restrictions on the participation of legal entities established in China” found in General Annex B of the General Annexes.

Expected Outcome:

• Increased economically viable and functionally equivalent renewable material and sustainable chemical solutions used in large scale textile applications, including apparel, home and technical textiles;
• A realistic pathway for an absolute reduction of the use of virgin fossil-based materials and chemicals used to produce textile products for the EU market by 2035, contributing to enhance the preservation of human health, biodiversity and ecosystems, whether aquatic or terrestrial ecosystem preservation and emission reduction;
• Uptake of business models and system approaches that allow for the scale up of sustainable textile material and chemical alternatives as competitive alternatives to conventional approaches.

Scope:

Innovative renewable textile fibres and sustainable chemical solutions today face almost insurmountable cost disadvantages compared to extremely cost-competitive and industrially entrenched fibres and chemicals based on virgin fossil resources. To allow for the scale up of the use of innovative renewable materials and sustainable chemicals by the textile industry, improved processability of materials, suitable processing technology, deeper technical knowledge and smart phase-in approaches such as material blending or drop-in solutions are required. Specific emphasis must be placed on resulting final product quality, their durability and functionality to avoid negative user/consumer perception of products made with renewable materials and sustainable chemicals. As not all cost and quality challenges may be immediately overcome by technological innovation, accompanying business models and systems approaches are needed to enable equitable cost and risk sharing among all involved stakeholders in the textile value chain.

Attributes such as recyclability, recycled material content, and resource efficiency as well as reduced carbon and environmental footprint are expected to be part of the textile-specific requirements under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.

Proposals should specifically address:

• Innovative processing technologies to facilitate the efficient use of recycled, regenerated and bio-based fibres as well as sustainable processing and functionalising chemicals across all major stages of the textile manufacturing value chain, such as spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing or finishing;
• Quantification of biodiversity outcomes associated to new processes by using existing Monitoring, Reporting and Validation (MRV) methodologies, adapting and testing them if needed;
• Characterisation, quality assurance and mitigation strategies for the most common processing and functionality challenges and limitations of the sustainable materials and chemicals targeted;
• Development of best practices and training materials targeted at designers, manufacturers, brands, end of life managers and end users, working with the targeted materials and chemicals;
• Strategies and tools to practically implement collective risk sharing and smart scaling approaches.

Proposals should actively involve suppliers of renewable materials and sustainable chemicals, brands, commercial end users and developers/manufacturers of relevant processing technology and industrial partners with the capacity to commercially scale up production with the targeted materials and chemicals. The involvement of partners beyond the manufacturing supply chain, such as product designers, brands, commercial end users and end of life managers including collectors, sorters, recyclers and remanufacturers is particularly encouraged. Proposals should carry out research and innovation to develop missing elements and achieve the necessary integration, including economic viability. Hence, synergies with, or using results from, other projects may be appropriate. The mere integration of existing technologies or processes is outside the scope of this topic.

Proposals should provide between 10% and 25% of the EU contribution through financial support to third parties (FSTP), in order to maximise the number of SMEs involved in small-scale innovation projects. FSTP funding can be provided only to SME participants, while the active participation of larger companies in such innovation projects in encouraged. The involvement of start-ups is also specifically encouraged.

Proposals should include a business case and exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to this Destination.

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership Textiles for the Future.

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