- The R&D&I platform will bring together the knowledge and experience of different Galician companies, technology centres and universities to promote sustainable textile recycling technology in Galicia.
The EQ2 group of the University of Vigo (Orense Campus), the University of A Coruña, the technology centres CETIM and AIMEN, the Galician companies in the textile recycling sector, Insertega and Coleo, the Swedish startup ShareTex, and Ence have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the creation of the Galician Consortium for the Recycling of Post-consumer Textiles.
This is a very important step in the promotion of this R+D+i platform that will play a very important role in the innovative recycling of post-consumer textile waste and therefore in the strategic industrial project that Ence is developing in As Pontes.
Innovative recycling makes it possible to recover those materials that the mechanic is not capable of recovering, integrating them back into the value chain or into products with high added value. Within this framework, the Galician consortium offers an innovative solution to the growing generation of textile waste. In this way, progress is being made towards meeting the European Union’s environmental objectives by creating a new way to increase recycling capacity in Galicia and therefore in Spain.
In addition, the signatories commit to comply with a decalogue of good practices in the innovative recycling of textile waste to promote the principle of reuse, the reduction of the use of natural resources and ethics in the supply chain.
Ence promotes the circular economy in As Pontes
Ence will undertake in As Pontes a large strategic industrial project divided into three phases that will reach an investment of up to 355 million and generate about 1,250 jobs (direct, indirect and induced). The first of these includes a bioplant for recovered paper and cardboard fibres and a pilot plant for the recovery of textile fibres. The second includes a cogeneration plant with 150 MW of thermal power and around 50 MW of electrical power. Finally, the third phase will involve the construction of a tissue paper plant.
In relation to the textile fibre recovery pilot plant, Ence and the Swedish startup ShareTex have recently successfully carried out the first innovative textile recycling tests on a laboratory scale using an innovative technology that does not require high pressure, temperature or the use of toxic solvents.
In this pilot plant, the company will focus on the circular bioeconomy by creating an innovative textile recycling system. The technology used will increase the recyclability and durability of the final eco-products, reducing the environmental impact of the textile sector and reducing the consumption of natural resources.
