The Government Commissioner for the PERTE of Circular Economy, Alejandro Dorado, transferred the heads of textile and fashion companies of Galicia the details of the call for aid that comes from the call of the Government to promote sustainability and circularity in this sector. This meeting, organized by the Delegation of the Government and the Consortium of Zona Franca de Vigo, brought together at the headquarters of this body the twenty or so directors of Galicia in a meeting that was also attended by the delegate of the Government, Pedro Blanco; the delegate of Zona Franca, David Regades; the mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero and the senator Carmela Silva.
Alejandro Dorado was accompanied in his speech by Irene Díez, coordinator of the Circular Economy area of the Biodiversity Foundation and responsible for the management of this aid. Both brought the details of this call for the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which is managed by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, through the Biodiversity Foundation.
The call for aid to boost the circular economy in the textile, fashion and clothing sector, and footwear, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), has 97.5 million euros and will allow the financing of the best selected initiatives, with amounts ranging from 100,000 euros to 10 million euros per project and beneficiary entity.
The application period is open from April 10th and will end on June 10th. The call is expected to be resolved by the end of 2024. All selected projects must be completed by 30 June 2027.
The purpose of this aid is to promote the sustainability and circularity of industrial and business processes to improve the competitiveness and innovation of textiles and fashion, within the framework of a circular economy, which exceeds the previous linear production model.
This aid is eligible for actions that, in the textile and fashion and clothing and footwear sectors, reduce the consumption of virgin raw materials, reduce the generation of waste and/or improve the management of waste, contributing substantially to the transition to a circular economy in one of the following categories: research and development for ecodesign; digitalization to innovate in terms of processes and organization; increase in the level of environmental protection of the beneficiary entity receiving the aid; and/or improvement in the management of waste from third parties.
Circular Economy PERTE
The Circular Economy PERTE (Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation) is one of the strategic projects of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. It was approved on March 8, 2022 and aims to accelerate the transition to a more efficient and sustainable production system in the use of raw materials.
This PERTE is executed around two lines of action. Line 1, which promotes through 300 million euros in aid, actions in key sectors: textile, plastic and capital goods for the renewable energy industry. EUR 300 million in the form of grants.
This line is completed with a second line for transversal circular economy actions in sectors that do not belong to line 1. In this case, it has EUR 192 million in grants for projects to boost the circular economy divided into four categories: reducing the consumption of raw materials, the development of ecodesign, waste management and digitalisation.
Visit to Selmark facilities
In his first stay in Galicia, the commissioner of the PERTE of Circular Economy visited the facilities that the Galician textile company Selmark has in the Polygon of Valadares (Vigo). There he was accompanied by the government delegate, Pedro Blanco and the delegate of Zona Franca, David Regades, with whom he made a tour of the headquarters of this firm. Alejandro Dorado was able to learn, from the hand of several Selmark managers, the firm’s technological innovation plans and the company’s expansion and sales forecasts, present in 50 countries and more than 5,000 points of sale.