Europe is accelerating textile circularity — a major opportunity for the industry to take !

A European revision targeting textiles

On July 5th, the European Commission proposed a revision of the Waste Framework Directive, specifically targeting the textile sector — one of the most polluting and linear industries today.

🎯 The goal? Effective separate collection by 2025, and above all, the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles in all Member States. These systems would include dedicated funding for reuse, preparation for recycling, and textile waste management.

What textile EPR will change

👉 What changes?
Producers would be responsible for the costs of collecting, sorting, and treating the textiles they put on the market.
Member States will need to establish harmonized EPR systems for textiles, with eco-modulated contributions (based on durability, repairability, recyclability, etc.).
This paves the way for a more transparent, traceable, and circular ecosystem.

Ecollant’s view: an opportunity to seize

🔍 At Ecollant, we see this proposal as a strong signal: the regulatory framework is finally catching up with the environmental urgency and the innovations already happening on the ground.

We believe in an ambitious, fair, and actionable textile EPR system — one that truly supports circular models like ours, built on reuse, source sorting, and traceability.

👉 This directive is a great opportunity to build a real circular textile sector in Europe.
But for it to become a true driver of transformation, it must be designed as a systemic shift — not just a transfer of responsibility. It’s about backing an innovative, traceable, and scalable industry.

🔬 At Ecollant, we’ve developed a closed-loop recycling technology for polyamide, based on traceability and material analysis. A solution built to fit perfectly within an efficient EPR model — from collection all the way to regeneration into recycled polyamide yarn.

👉 To read the full European proposal: https://lnkd.in/eDUJR9uh

The Crucial Role of Startups in Fashion’s Green Transition: Our Take!

Fashion: an industry in need of transformation

Fashion, often seen as a field of creativity and self-expression, is also one of the most polluting industries. Responsible for 20% of global wastewater and 10% of carbon emissions, the sector faces an urgent need for transformation. Startups are at the heart of this shift, bringing essential innovation, agility, and environmental commitment to an industry that can be rigid and slow to evolve.

The key role of startups

Unlike large corporations, often constrained by heavy structures and complex processes, startups have the flexibility to explore groundbreaking solutions. They pioneer new materials—sometimes bio-based—, technologies for full traceability, and truly circular models.

At ECOLLANT, we’ve chosen to tackle a specific challenge: textile waste management, particularly polyamide blended with other fibers. This material, omnipresent in our clothing, presents a complex recycling challenge, which we address with an innovative extraction process that enables closed-loop recycling.

From innovation to impact: the power of collaboration

🔹 But innovation alone is not enough.
Real impact comes from strong collaborations with industrial players. By combining the agility of startups with the execution power of large companies, we can move from promising prototypes to large-scale implementation. This synergy significantly accelerates fashion’s green transition. In addition, consumer engagement, public policies, and financial support are essential to sustain a more sustainable industry.

💡 At ECOLLANT, we believe that fashion’s transformation must be a collective priority, an entire industry effort.
Thinking in terms of a full supply chain might take longer than isolated efforts, but it creates deeper impact, from collecting end-of-life textiles to launching circular products on the market.

♻️ From recycled to recyclable!

Since our founding in 2019, we’ve worked tirelessly to build a winning model, supported by key institutional players who have been instrumental in our journey. These partners, including the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region, AER BFC, ADEME, Bpifrance, and CHEMTECH, have trusted us with dedicated support programs and continue to accompany us toward our industrial-scale deployment.

📊 Data source:

  • United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 2018 report: “Fashion and the Environment”, highlighting the massive environmental footprint of the textile industry.
  • The Good Goods article: “What is ‘Grand Export’?” – 2025.

Global Recycling Day: A Collective Commitment

Global Recycling Day: why it matters

Today, we celebrate Global Recycling Day, a key moment to reflect on our impact on the planet and the actions we can take to preserve our natural resources.

At ECOLLANT, this day holds special significance.
As pioneers in textile and polyamide recycling, our mission is to reshape how we manage waste—particularly our old clothes. Our goal? To turn circularity into reality, drive material innovation, and develop new sustainable solutions.

🔄 Textile Recycling: A Key Driver for the Ecological Transition

Textile recycling: a driver for the ecological transition

The textile recycling sector plays a crucial role in reducing our environmental footprint. By reintegrating materials from used textiles, we reduce the demand for virgin resources and help build a more sustainable economic model.

However, the journey ahead remains long and requires strong collaboration across the entire ecosystem: collection and sorting centers, industries, fashion brands, and production chains. That’s why ECOLLANT prioritizes strengthening partnerships across the value chain, creating a true circular economy within the textile industry.

Today, more than ever, the transition to a circular economy is essential.

🤝 How are you contributing to this transition?
Share your initiatives and best practices with us—we’d love to exchange ideas and work together toward a more sustainable future!

The Filming Continues… This Time at AuxR_Lab!

A France 3 documentary filmed at Ecollant

After our participation in the Génération Slow Fashion conference, it’s now our turn to welcome Pauline Pelsy-Johann and the team from Dynamo Production as they film their documentary, soon to be broadcast on France 3 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. 📺

💡 From Theory to Practice

From theory to practice at AuxR_Lab

During the conference, we discussed the future of responsible fashion, the challenges of fast fashion, and concrete solutions to make the industry more circular. Today, it’s all about action: moving from ideas to real-world impact. At Ecollant, we’re proving that another path is possible—one where complex textile waste isn’t a dead end but a valuable resource. From chemistry to industry, from lab to large-scale application, we’re demonstrating how textile recycling can truly work.

📍 Welcome to AuxR_Lab
This is where our innovations come to life, where textile recycling challenges meet tangible solutions, and where the industry of tomorrow is being shaped—more sustainable, more circular. We’re excited to open our doors to the Dynamo Production team and share the behind-the-scenes journey of our commitment to a more responsible fashion industry.

👀 More to come soon… Stay tuned!

A big thank you to Pauline Pelsy-Johann, Dynamo Production, and France 3 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté for shining a light on these crucial topics!

1 Year of Partnership with Provence TLC: A Celebration!

A year of partnership with Provence TLC

A year ago, we partnered with Provence TLC, an expert in sorting and valorizing textiles, to support stakeholders in the textile industry with their textile waste valorization projects! (TLC = Textiles, Household Linen, and Shoes)

Since then, we have been focusing on the collection of end-of-life textiles, starting with tights, socks, and leggings, which became our first case study. This waste stream is quite homogeneous in the territory and contains a significant amount of nylon: an average of 85%.

12 tons collected: a new record

Over the past two years, our partnership has continued to grow, and the amount of collected materials has steadily increased!
This year, we collected a total of 12 tons of used textiles across all developed streams – a true record for us, which also signals significant progress in the years ahead! 🌍♻️ (2021 data: 900 kg / 2022 data: 3 tons) (😉 Refashion)

To celebrate this anniversary, we visited Vitrolles, at the heart of their sorting center, to meet the teams and better understand the challenges related to textile sorting, specifically our waste stream. We were warmly welcomed, as always by all our partners, but this time we even got the chance to step into the sorting line and select our nylon-polyamide items 😮

Why tights can’t be recycled

To begin our research and develop our recycling process in 2021, we decided to start by exploring tights and nylon stockings because, believe it or not, they do not get recycled!

Belonging to the category of “complex textiles” or “blended textiles,” they make up about 47.4%* of the collected waste. These items are made of two materials: nylon and elastane. It is this very small-scale bi-composition that makes mechanical recycling impossible.

So, as a consumer of textiles made from nylon (where the labels on your clothing indicate multiple materials), know that you can participate in these recyclability studies with us by dropping off your worn items at nearby voluntary collection points, along with any other clothes that cannot be repaired or “upcycled.”

To highlight this successful collaboration during our first year, we have a little surprise planned for the end of June!

A big thank you to Provence TLC for participating in our innovative project and contributing to transforming the textile industry into a more circular one!
🤝 Zeynep GULES and all the field teams, who tirelessly sort and re-sort our TLCs, for their dedication, passion, and commitment.

According to a Re_Fashion study after 3 experimental campaigns on this waste stream

A look back at Textile 360: an inspiring event at the heart of the textile transition!

Ecollant at Textile 360

Last week, we were at Textile 360, an unmissable event organized by our long-time partner, Tremplin, which brings together a large part of the textile end-of-life chain every year. It’s always a pleasure to reconnect with the key players in this essential sector – from collectors and sorters to valorization startups, and the companies transforming these textiles into innovative materials.

Here’s a recap of this enriching evening:

Structuring and optimizing the textile sector

The Textile 360 presentation kicked off the discussions, sharing the latest advancements to structure and optimize the sector in France. The outlook is clear: it’s possible to give a second life to our used textiles through collaborations between complementary stakeholders. 👏 Virginie Belle!

Roundtable on innovative materials

The roundtable on innovative materials made from textile waste brought together key speakers: Cécile Martin from Refashion, Emmanuelle Ledoux from the National Institute of Circular Economy, @Corinne Farce from TECHTERA, Armand Bernoud from @Tissium, and Cédric NIEUTIN from Post Industrial Crafts.

They shared inspiring insights on the realities and promises of materials made from recycled textiles. Fascinating testimonies that remind us that, although challenges remain, innovative solutions are multiplying to transform the sector.

Finally, we wrapped up the evening with a sharing moment coordinated by the Tremplin01 teams, a perfect opportunity for exchanges and creating new synergies 😉 Pauline Gamore and very enjoyable to mutually discuss our progress, such as with Stan Muraczewski & Marine PERRAUD (Recyc’Elit🌍) for example.

These exchanges with our partners and other participants reaffirm our mission: each end-of-life textile can contribute to a more virtuous circular sector, both in open-loop and closed-loop systems. We are already looking forward to seeing how these initiatives will take shape and are eager to actively contribute to them!