On average, each EU citizen consumes 19 kg of textiles per year in the form of clothing, footwear, and household textiles—a trend that appears to be increasing. Unfortunately, the recycling of textile waste is not increasing to the same extent. In particular, blended textiles such as polyester and cotton are currently difficult to recycle, and there is therefore a need to develop new commercially viable solutions that can address this.

Together with a consortium of partners from the recycling and 3D printing industries as well as the research community, Dansk AM Hub will now explore new ways to increase circularity in Danish industry, based on textile waste. Through the Tex2AM project, we will investigate whether it is possible to convert hard-to-process textile waste into a new circular 3D printing material. This mainly serves two purposes:

1. Identify recycling methods for problematic fractions of textile waste that would otherwise be incinerated or landfilled
2. Create a more sustainable alternative to virgin plastic filament for 3D printing

If we succeed in creating a 3D printing material with the right properties, we will identify concrete applications in industry. This is how we will ensure that technological advances create an impact in society.

Tex2AM – explained briefly

Project period: 2025-2027

Read more about the project here.