Inditex named as partner of plastic recycling project WhiteCycle

Inditex, owner of fast fashion retailers Zara and Bershka, has been named as the sole cross-sector partner of recently launched plastic recycling project WhiteCycle.

The initiative, coordinated by Michelin, looks to develop a circular solution to convert complex waste from textiles made of plastic into “high added value” products.

The four-year project is co-founded by the EU’s research and innovation programme Horizon Europe and includes partnerships with 16 organisations across five European countries.

The consortium has set out to establish new processes to implement throughout the industrial value chain, including sorting technologies, pre-treatment for PET plastic content, recycling techniques and the fabrication of new products.

It hopes that its circular solution will lead to the annual recycling of more than two million tonnes of PET by 2030, preventing landfilling and enabling the reduction of CO2 emissions.

WhiteCycle said in a release that it has a global budget of nearly 9.6 million euros and will receive European funding amounting to almost 7.1 million euros.

Similarly, Inditex also recently backed circular textile company Circ, contributing to its 30 million dollar Series B funding round to support its patented textile recycling process.