Hosted by MedWaves at the Barcelona Circular Hub, Waste2Fashion’s first Steering Committee aligned partners, reviewed plans, and visited the Catalonia pilot site.
The Waste2Fashion project, officially launched with its first Steering Committee meeting hosted in Barcelona on 10–11 December at the Barcelona Circular (BAC) Hub. The meeting brought together project partners from across the Mediterranean marking the start of a joint effort to address post-consumer textile waste through innovative circular economy approaches.
This multi-year project aims to tackle one of the fastest-growing waste streams globally: textiles. By focusing on post-consumer textile waste, Waste2Fashion seeks to reduce environmental impacts while unlocking social, economic, and circular opportunities across the Mediterranean region. At the core of the initiative lies a clear ambition: to transform textile waste into a valuable resource by testing innovative pilots, strengthening local value chains, and promoting scalable circular business models.
Waste2Fashion will support the design, implementation, and evaluation of pilot actions focused on textile reuse, recycling, and circular innovation. The project brings together public authorities, technical organisations and social enterprises to ensure that solutions are both environmentally effective and socially inclusive.
The Steering Committee meeting provided an essential platform to align partners around the project’s objectives, governance structure, and implementation roadmap. Hosted by MedWaves, the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production, Lead Partner of the project, both days set the foundations for effective collaboration in the months ahead.
The meeting opened with a welcome from MedWaves, followed by an overview of the Waste2Fashion project framework, objectives, and expected results. Partners reviewed the project content in detail, clarified roles and responsibilities, and discussed coordination mechanisms to ensure smooth implementation across all work packages. A key focus of the meeting was the planning of the pilot actions addressing post-consumer textile waste. Partners exchanged views on pilot design, timelines, and local contexts, highlighting both shared challenges and opportunities for innovation. These discussions were instrumental in aligning expectations and ensuring a common understanding of how pilot activities will contribute to the project’s overall impact.
Beyond strategic discussions, the meeting also offered the opportunity to connect theory with practice through a visit to the pilot host organisation in Catalonia. Guided by Solidança Treball EI S.L. and its dedicated team, partners visited local facilities and gained first-hand insights into existing textile collection, sorting, and reuse practices. This visit showcased the social and environmental value of circular textile initiatives and provided concrete inspiration for the pilot actions to be developed within the project.
The first Steering Committee meeting marked an important milestone for Waste2Fashion, setting the basis for a collaborative and results-driven implementation phase. In the coming months, project partners will work together to:
Waste2Fashion places strong emphasis on collaboration, knowledge sharing, and communication to maximise its impact. Throughout the project’s duration, partners will actively share progress, lessons learned, and results through the project’s communication channels.
Stay tuned for updates on Waste2Fashion activities, pilot actions, and upcoming milestones via the project’s website and social media channels!
Last Update
26/01/2026
Next Med