Following its October 2025 deep dive into Textile-to-Textile Recycling, PERFORMANCE DAYS is advancing the circularity debate upstream. The upcoming Focus Topic: “Textile to Textile: The Role of Collectors and Sorters”, to be showcased during the Spring Edition on March 18–19, 2026, shifts attention to a critical but often underrepresented link in the circular textile value chain: post-consumer textile collection and sorting.
Why collection and sorting determine circular success
Collectors and sorters function as the gatekeepers of circularity. Their ability to deliver clean, traceable, and high-quality feedstock determines whether discarded textiles re-enter the value chain—or are lost to landfill or incineration. As Europe seeks to scale textile-to-textile recycling from pilots to industrial reality, this first step requires investment, regulation, digital infrastructure, and coordinated collaboration.|
Key themes shaping the Focus Topic
The Spring 2026 edition will examine the full landscape of opportunities and constraints at this early stage of circularity, including:
- Opportunities: How optimized collection and sorting unlock circular value at scale
- Bottlenecks: Infrastructure gaps, contamination, logistics complexity, and volume thresholds
- Regulation: EU Waste Framework Directive, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), eco-modulation, and the growing relevance of Digital Product Passports
- Technology: Automated sorting, AI-enabled systems, NIR scanning, and quality standards
- Collaboration: New models linking brands, municipalities, collectors, sorters, recyclers, and policymakers
A focus embedded across the entire show
Rather than a standalone theme, the topic will be visible throughout PERFORMANCE DAYS—from the Trend Forum and keynote sessions to deep-dive presentations and expert panels. A dedicated infographic will map how brands, collectors, sorters, recyclers, and regulators collectively form the foundation of a connected circular textile economy. With EPR schemes set to redistribute waste-management costs, the spotlight is firmly on building viable collection and sorting infrastructure.
PERFORMANCE DAYS as a circularity catalyst
PERFORMANCE DAYS continues to position itself as a neutral platform for knowledge exchange, material innovation, and partnership building, connecting innovators, recyclers, brands, and political stakeholders. The goal is not only to showcase market-ready solutions, but also to surface early, forward-looking approaches that enable systemic change.
As Anna Schuster, Head of Sustainability at PERFORMANCE DAYS, explains: “Many of the key questions arise much earlier than recycling itself—at the level of understanding material flows and building efficient systems. That is why we focus on reinforcing the foundations of circularity, not just the end processes.”
The bigger message
Circularity is no longer aspirational—it is a prerequisite for the textile industry’s future. By focusing on collectors and sorters, PERFORMANCE DAYS Spring 2026 reinforces a clear message: without strong beginnings, there can be no closed loops.
