Spain to host a 'reward-based' pilot programme for used clothing collection

Madrid – Europe continues to advance its sustainability, textile waste management and reuse objectives. The continent will finance the development of a disruptive pilot programme in Spain for used clothing collection, offering “rewards” to consumers. This initiative seeks not only to accelerate progress towards these strategic goals but ultimately to embed the circular and second-hand model within the European consumer mindset.

The experimental initiative is part of the development phase for the new TexMat project, funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe programme. The project received grants of just over 6.76 million euros (7.88 million dollars) from community authorities. It officially launched on October 1, 2025, with a completion timeline set for March 31, 2029. At this point, the development stage of the initiative will conclude. The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is leading the project, alongside 14 partners from seven EU countries. All these agents are participating in the TexMat project, under which two pilot tests of automated systems for used clothing collection are planned; one in Finland and another in Spain. These initiatives will innovatively feature “reward” systems for consumers. The EU believes this will help accelerate the shift towards a more sustainable and circular textile economy. Through these “rewards”, European citizens will have an added incentive to help tackle the problem of textile waste management and proliferation within the EU. The results from these pilot tests will be collected and studied to analyse different ways to scale up these automated, “reward-based” textile waste collection systems.

Involving “partners from across the European textile industry value chain”, the TexMat programme aims to “develop new business models; hardware and software technologies; and policy tools to involve and engage consumers in the separate collection of textile waste, and in promoting textile reuse” within the EU, according to the European Commission. With a long-term perspective, the project will also help accelerate a “transition towards a more sustainable and circular consumer-centric textile economy. This will serve to achieve the EU's greenhouse gas reduction targets set for 2030 and 2050, aligned with the European Green Deal”. They add that this series of achievements will not only contribute to building a more “beneficial environment for European consumers” but also foster “industrial sustainability, competitiveness, and resource independence in Europe”.

Automated used clothing containers 'with a reward'

This pilot programme for textile waste collection is a strategic lever for achieving these ambitious goals, concentrating the efforts of all participants in the TexMat programme. The initiative involves installing a series of new, cutting-edge automated used clothing containers on public streets. The pilot test in Spain will involve the University of Coruña, leading research on sustainable business models; the social economy entity Humana Fundación Pueblo para Pueblo, a pioneer in Spanish textile waste management; and Spanish technology companies IRIS Technology Solutions and Rovimatica. IRIS Technology Solutions will develop the digital solutions and software for textile collection and sorting, while Rovimatica will develop the TexMat programme application and the “smart” container.

As detailed by this group of four Spanish agents, they will spend the next three years developing the foundations of this pilot test. “Smart and automated” containers will be created and made available to citizens. These will feature integrated technology to pre-sort the items deposited inside. This process will automatically assess the quality of the deposited item, generating appropriate “compensation” for the person participating in the collection system. This “reward” aims to encourage active participation by European consumers in tackling the proliferation of textile waste. Few other details have been provided for now. However, the European Commission has noted that these new collection “solutions” will “offer consumers a financial incentive” through the implementation of “new reimbursement schemes linked to second-hand markets”. This will generate “profitable business opportunities to extend the life cycle of textile products” and “support the promotion of specific EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) schemes in the textile sector”.

“Through automated collection and sorting, the TexMat solution directly contributes to the development of the future digital product passport. It also paves the way for a successful extended producer responsibility system for textiles, while rewarding citizens for making responsible decisions and encouraging greater participation in a circular textile economy,” stated Ece Şanlı, head of the circular economy department at Humana. This is all part of a programme that begins “as the EU redefines the future of textile sustainability,” at a time when “the valorisation of used textiles” is “more urgent” than ever.

“This initiative has great potential to transform the collection and resale of used garments, while supporting the second-hand market and allowing consumers to monetise their donations,” noted Elina Ilén, coordinator of the TexMat project at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. “By developing a cost-effective and user-friendly solution,” she added, it is possible to “free consumers from the need” to decide for themselves “which garments can be resold for reuse or destined for recycling,” paving the way for better textile waste management. This same “automated collection and sorting” also supports “textile waste management operators by quickly and accurately separating garments suitable for reuse from those destined for disposal, reducing reliance on manual labour.” This optimisation should streamline all processes involved in the necessary treatment and management of textile waste.