Innovation project gets €71M from Recovery and Resilience Plan
The Portuguese textile and clothing technological centre — CITEVE — launched a large collaborative project on bioeconomy which will invest €138M, including €71M from de Portuguese’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) approved by European Commission.
Named Be@t — Bioeconomy at Textiles — this ambitious project focuses on making the textile & clothing industry entering in a new era and set “a new rhythm of change in all segments across the sector”, according to CITEVE’s general manager, Braz Costa. The latter says that Be@t will “boost the development of added value products from biological resources instead of using fossil raw materials, while keeping in mind the need for the production of high-quality products and the expansion to new markets opportunities”.
In the project, CITEVE leads a consortium of 54 entities which involves companies, universities, technological institutes, and other partners, who initiated their working sessions calendar at CITEVE’s facilities in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal.
These actions are “very important steps for the enormous change we are starting to make in the textiles & clothing industry and in three years will revolutionize the whole sector, from feedstock to design, R&D or production lines”, states Braz Costa. He admits this bioeconomy project implies huge challenges for creatives, researchers and developers, and an enormous investment.
Furthermore, Be@t will foster the matching of both market and legal demands related with environment and planet conservation. With this project is also expected to introduce a new chapter on raw materials as well as new techniques, technologies and equipment’s for producing or processing new biobased textile structures.
As a result, the investment will generate considerable market chances to this sector as it drives the progress in sales strategies and promotion actions in different countries, which will allow the showcase of “Made in Portugal” textiles and clothing.
About CITEVE
CITEVE is a Technological Institute which provides technical support and services to companies acting in the textile & clothing business. The Institute facilities are settled in Portugal (Vila Nova de Famalicão) with complementary fields of expertise, and two international branches, namely in Brazil and Tunisia.
Product design & development, prototyping, testing and applied R&D oriented to innovative applications, are included in a service portfolio that also includes consultancy, training, and fashion intelligence.
Diligent for three decades, CITEVE is an active member of several international networks and takes part in different technical working groups in the fields of research, product testing and certification. As a private non-profit organization, the Centre ensures an effective link to the public sector, both at national and European level, having an important contribution in the definition and implementation of public policies, relevant for the textile & clothing industry.
