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GP2 Retex – Circular Textile Economy & Women’s Empowerment Model (Serbia) #

📍 Location: Užice, Zlatibor District, Western Serbia

🔗 Main source: https://zenskicentaruzice.com/en/reciklaza-tekstila/

🔗 Additional sources:

• https://zelenatranzicija.undp.org.rs/en/cozyrewear-reuse-and-recycling-of-textiles/
• https://socijalnoukljucivanje.gov.rs/en/female-citizens-of-uzice-recycling-textile/
• https://www.energetskiportal.com/green-fashion-in-uzice/

Introduction #

Retex is a circular textile economy initiative established in July 2010 by the Ženski centar Užice (Women’s Centre Užice – ŽCU), a civil society organisation active in Western Serbia since the early 2000s. The initiative emerged from a dual recognition: that textile waste represents a significant and poorly managed fraction of municipal solid waste in Serbia, and that women from vulnerable social groups – disabled individuals, single mothers, domestic violence survivors, and women over 50 – face persistent and structural barriers to formal employment.

Užice is located in the Zlatibor district, a region that historically hosted significant textile manufacturing activity. When the industry declined in the post-socialist transition, the knowledge and skills of local women – many of whom had worked in textile factories for decades – remained present in the community but largely unused. The founders of Retex, Marina Tucović (project coordinator and textile engineer) and Radmila Gujaničić (president of the ŽCU Board of Directors), identified this untapped potential and designed a model that transforms textile waste into a resource stream while creating meaningful, flexible employment for women who would otherwise remain outside the labour market.

The initiative operates from the premises of the former textile company “Cveta Dabić” in downtown Užice. Citizens, schools, kindergartens, youth associations, and the Red Cross bring textiles to the centre twice a week or during special collection campaigns. Women employees sort the materials: items suitable for reuse are redirected to social services and distributed to over 280 socially vulnerable families from the Zlatibor County every month; items unsuitable for direct reuse are processed and transformed into recycled textile regenerators – raw fibrous materials used in construction insulation, furniture manufacturing, road construction, and the automotive industry.

Over time, Retex has evolved from a social employment programme into a recognised model for community-scale circular economy in Serbia. It has sorted and processed over 35 tonnes of textile, donated more than 15,000 clothing items, and provided first-ever formal employment to women who had spent years excluded from the labour market. Its replication and dissemination potential has begun to materialise: the initiative now serves as the recycling endpoint for CozyReWear, a newer circular fashion project that uses organic cotton, builds a tailoring hub for garment redesign and alteration, and directs all non-reusable textile waste to the Women’s Recycling Centre in Užice – thereby closing a full, waste-free fashion cycle that connects a sustainable brand with a social enterprise. This emerging network demonstrates that Retex has moved beyond a standalone local programme and is developing into a systemic node in Serbia’s circular textile economy.

Context:
Retex combines waste prevention, circular material flows, and social inclusion into a single community-embedded model. It operates at the intersection of environmental responsibility, social equity, and local economic resilience, making it highly aligned with the principles and frameworks of the New European Bauhaus and the Quintuple Helix Model.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how circular economy principles can be applied to textile waste at a community level
• Analyse the relationship between circular resource management and social inclusion
• Explore how traditional skills and sector-specific knowledge can be mobilised for sustainable development
• Develop local circular textile strategies that engage vulnerable groups and produce both environmental and social value

Session Plan:

• Introduction to textile waste as a circular economy challenge (15 min)
• Case study analysis: Retex – Ženski centar Užice (30 min)
• Workshop: designing a circular textile initiative for your community (45 min)
• Reflection and feedback (30 min)

NEB Principles Identified in the Example #

Sustainability is central to the Retex model. By intercepting textile waste before it reaches landfill and redirecting it into productive circular flows – from humanitarian donation to industrial recycling – the initiative materially reduces the environmental impact of a waste stream that represents between 4% and 8% of municipal solid waste in Serbian cities. The use of recycled textile regenerators as insulation and construction material substitutes for imported products, reducing both waste volumes and the environmental cost of logistics. The participation of Retex in the CozyReWear supply chain further strengthens this dimension: products made from organic cotton and natural materials are redesigned and altered for reuse, and only genuinely unrecoverable materials are sent for recycling – embodying the full waste hierarchy in practice.

Inclusion is the founding logic of Retex. The initiative was explicitly designed to create employment for women who face the highest barriers to labour market participation: women with disabilities, single mothers, survivors of domestic violence, women over 50, and individuals living in rural or peri-urban areas with limited mobility. For many participants, Retex represents their first formal employment. The flexible structure of the work – based within the community, not requiring commuting to industrial zones – ensures that participation does not come at the expense of caregiving responsibilities or existing social ties. Beyond employment, the centre serves as a redistributive mechanism, channelling functional garments to over 280 socially vulnerable families monthly, thereby addressing material poverty through circular means.

Aesthetics in the Retex model manifests through the value placed on craft knowledge, material care, and the dignity of repair and reuse. The careful sorting, cleaning, and processing of donated textiles reflects a culture of attention to materials – an ethic that stands in direct contrast to the disposability logic of fast fashion. As the initiative’s connection to CozyReWear evolves, the aesthetic dimension deepens: garments are redesigned and altered rather than discarded, preserving both material value and aesthetic character. This approach demonstrates that sustainability and beauty are not in tension: quality, durability, and thoughtful design are the shared foundations of both.

✅ What the Sectors Can Learn: Circular Textile Economy (QHM-Oriented)

🌍 Environment #

Retex demonstrates that effective circular resource management can be achieved at community scale, using existing skills and infrastructure, without large capital investment.

Textile waste is a local environmental challenge with local solutions

Lesson: Between 4% and 8% of municipal solid waste in Serbian cities is textile – a fraction largely invisible in mainstream waste management planning, yet significant in volume and environmental impact.

→ Adaptation: Municipal waste strategies should explicitly include textile fractions, with collection, sorting, and reprocessing infrastructure built at community level.

→ Example Implementation: Municipalities can partner with NGOs and social enterprises to establish textile collection and sorting hubs, eliminating the need for costly centralised facilities.

→ Practical Step: Conduct local waste composition audits to quantify the textile fraction; use results to build the case for dedicated collection infrastructure and funding.

Circular material flows reduce both waste and import dependency

Lesson: Recycled textile regenerators produced by Retex substitute for imported insulation and furniture materials, creating a local product that reduces supply chain dependency.

→ Adaptation: Identify secondary material streams that currently rely on imported substitutes; design local recycling capacity to close these loops.

→ Example Implementation: Establish regional partnerships between textile recycling centres and construction, furniture, or automotive industries that require fibre-based raw materials.

→ Practical Step: Map industrial demand for recycled textile products in the regional economy; use this as the basis for investment in mechanical recycling equipment.

Systemic connection between stages amplifies environmental impact

Lesson: The integration of Retex into the CozyReWear supply chain shows how a community recycling hub can become a systemic node in a larger circular value chain – closing loops that individual actors cannot close alone.

→ Adaptation: Design circular textile programmes as open infrastructure that other actors (brands, designers, social enterprises) can plug into, rather than isolated projects.

→ Example Implementation: Publish the material processing capacity and take-back specifications of community recycling hubs so that circular fashion brands can integrate them into their end-of-life strategies.

→ Practical Step: Establish formal partnership agreements between recycling infrastructure providers and sustainable brands, creating guaranteed volume flows in both directions.

👥 Society #

Retex demonstrates that circular economy initiatives can function simultaneously as environmental interventions and instruments of social justice, dignity, and community cohesion.

Employment creation through circular systems targets those left behind

Lesson: The initiative was explicitly designed for women excluded from conventional labour markets. Circular economy creates employment niches that are inherently community-embedded and not easily offshored or automated.

→ Adaptation: Design circular economy programmes to deliberately include employment pathways for socially marginalised groups, recognising the double social dividend.

→ Example Implementation: Social enterprises running repair cafés, reuse hubs, or recycling centres can define their hiring criteria to prioritise hard-to-employ individuals, supported by public works programmes or social enterprise financing.

→ Practical Step: Develop workforce profiles for circular economy roles (sorter, repairer, redesigner, coordinator) that map to employment categories eligible for national employment agency support.

Humanitarian redistribution of functional goods addresses material poverty

Lesson: The sorting process at Retex generates two streams simultaneously: recycling-grade material and usable garments for social redistribution. This dual output multiplies the social value of the initiative without additional cost.

→ Adaptation: Integrate humanitarian redistribution functions into circular collection systems wherever possible, connecting waste management with social services.

→ Example Implementation: Local Red Cross branches, social service centres, and refugee support organisations can become formal redistribution partners for community textile hubs.

→ Practical Step: Establish monthly distribution agreements with social service providers; define quality criteria for clothing eligible for redistribution versus recycling.

Community ownership and participation strengthen civic sustainability culture

Lesson: Citizens are active contributors to Retex – bringing textiles twice a week, participating in campaigns with schools and youth organisations. This creates a visible, participatory sustainability culture rooted in everyday behaviour.

→ Adaptation: Build citizen drop-off rituals and community campaigns into the operating model of circular initiatives, rather than treating waste collection as a passive logistics function.

→ Example Implementation: Partner with schools, kindergartens, and sports clubs to host seasonal collection events that connect circular economy with education and community life.

→ Practical Step: Develop a community engagement calendar with regular collection events, linked to communication that makes the environmental and social impact of each donation visible to contributors.

🏛️ Politics #

Retex illustrates how public policy, when aligned with civil society innovation, can make community-scale circular economy viable and replicable.

Public works programmes can seed circular social enterprises

Lesson: The initial funding for Retex came through public works mechanisms of the National Employment Agency, with co-financing from the Municipality of Užice. This enabled the initiative to launch without commercial revenues, building capacity while delivering public value.

A February 2026 PKS (CCIS – Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia) survey of 264 Serbian SMEs confirms how structurally necessary such mechanisms are: 76.7% of companies report receiving no support whatsoever from local administration or business associations for their circular transition – making public employment programmes not a complementary tool, but a foundational enabler.

→ Adaptation: Public employment programmes should explicitly include circular economy roles – sorting, repair, collection, reuse – as eligible activities, creating a policy-level pathway for sustainable social enterprises.

→ Example Implementation: National employment agencies can design dedicated circular economy public works categories, with matching grants for civil society organisations that establish recycling or reuse hubs.

→ Practical Step: Advocate for the inclusion of circular economy social enterprise roles in national active labour market policy frameworks; pilot dedicated calls with time-limited seed funding, and structure these instruments as blended packages rather than classical credit products, combining grant funding with technical assistance and education, in line with the model recommended by the PKS Centre for Circular Economy (2026), which found that Serbian SMEs overwhelmingly request financing, training, and advisory support as a single integrated offer.

Local government can embed circular initiatives in sustainability strategies

Lesson: The Retex model was formally included in the Action Plan of Užice’s Strategy of Sustainable Development of Local Self-Government, giving it institutional recognition and access to municipal co-financing.

→ Adaptation: Municipalities should actively identify and recognise community-level circular economy initiatives in their sustainability and waste management plans, providing a stable policy framework for their operation.

→ Example Implementation: City governments can create “circular economy social enterprise” categories within local development strategies, with dedicated budget lines for co-financing.

→ Practical Step: Develop a model policy framework for municipalities wishing to incorporate circular social enterprises into their waste strategies; include performance metrics and funding eligibility criteria.

EU cross-border and structural funds can scale grassroots circular models

Lesson: After an initial phase funded by national public works, Retex accessed EU cross-border cooperation funds – in partnership with an NGO from Montenegro – to invest in equipment and training, demonstrating that local models can access European financing when properly structured.

→ Adaptation: Civil society organisations running circular economy initiatives should be supported in navigating EU funding instruments (CBC, INTERREG, ESF+), which are often inaccessible without institutional capacity support.

→ Example Implementation: National contact points and EU offices can develop targeted guidance packages for circular social enterprises seeking cross-border or structural fund support.

→ Practical Step: Establish a EU funding matchmaking service connecting circular social enterprises with eligible programmes; provide capacity building for proposal writing and financial reporting.

💶 Economy #

Retex demonstrates a viable economic model for community-scale circular enterprise, generating value from waste streams while keeping costs low and distributing economic benefits within the community.

Circular social enterprises create economic value from undervalued resources

Lesson: Discarded textiles, which citizens and municipalities would otherwise pay to dispose of, become productive inputs for industrial manufacturing through Retex’s sorting and processing activity.

→ Adaptation: Map locally generated waste streams that have industrial secondary use value; design collection and processing operations that create a tradeable output from what is currently a disposal cost.

→ Example Implementation: Establish off-take agreements with construction material, furniture, or automotive component manufacturers who need recycled fibre; use guaranteed volume contracts to underpin business planning.

→ Practical Step: Commission a market analysis of regional demand for recycled textile fibre; use findings to set realistic pricing and volume targets for business plan development.

Short, localised value chains reduce costs and increase resilience

Lesson: By sourcing inputs (donated textiles) locally, processing within the community, and selling to regional industrial buyers, Retex avoids the costs and vulnerabilities of long supply chains.

The importance of such accessible models is confirmed by real market data: a February 2026 PKS survey of 264 Serbian SMEs found that 53.5% cite lack of financial resources as their primary barrier to circular transition, and 59.8% find current market financing conditions unacceptable, meaning that community-embedded models like Retex, which operate with low capital requirements and publicly supported employment, represent a genuinely viable pathway precisely where institutional financing fails to reach.

→ Adaptation: Circular business models in other sectors – food, construction materials, packaging – can apply the same logic: map local input availability, design local processing, find local buyers.

→ Example Implementation: Regional circular economy clusters can connect multiple small-scale circular enterprises (textiles, food waste, wood, electronics) into a shared infrastructure network, reducing overheads.

→ Practical Step: Develop a regional circular economy value chain map identifying local waste streams, processing capacity, and industrial demand; use as a basis for business development support.

Connection to sustainable brands opens new commercial channels

Lesson: The CozyReWear partnership shows that a community recycling hub can become a commercial partner for sustainable fashion brands, providing end-of-life processing services as part of a brand’s circular product model.

→ Adaptation: Circular social enterprises should actively market their processing capacity to sustainable brands seeking credible, traceable end-of-life solutions for their materials.

→ Example Implementation: Develop a “circular processing services” offer – specifying input materials accepted, processing standards, and certifications available – and present it to regional sustainable fashion or design communities.

→ Practical Step: Establish quality standards and traceability documentation for recycled material outputs; use these as the basis for commercial contracts with brand partners.

🎓 Education #

Retex is a living laboratory for circular economy education, demonstrating how learning can be embedded in community practice rather than confined to classrooms. The urgency of this approach is backed by data: a February 2026 PKS survey found that 73.7% of Serbian companies need training or advisory support to introduce circular models, and education ranked as the single most-requested form of support at 76% – surpassing even financial resources (73%). This confirms that the educational model Retex embodies – learning through practice, within the community, not delivered from outside – responds to a documented and persistent national need.

Practical, place-based learning makes circular economy tangible

Lesson: The initiative makes the lifecycle of textiles visible and participatory – citizens bring clothes, women sort and process them, industrial partners transform the outputs. This full cycle is a ready-made educational resource.

→ Adaptation: Circular economy education programmes should incorporate field visits, practical exercises, and real material handling to connect abstract principles with lived experience.

→ Example Implementation: Schools and universities can partner with community circular hubs to host practical sessions on waste sorting, material identification, and circular value chain mapping.

→ Practical Step: Develop a modular field school programme based on the Retex model, including a hands-on sorting exercise, a value chain mapping workshop, and a reflection session on sustainable consumption.

Intergenerational and cross-sector knowledge transfer creates durable learning

Lesson: The initiative brings together women with decades of textile industry experience (who know materials, fibres, and processes) and younger or less experienced workers, creating a rich intergenerational learning environment.

→ Adaptation: Educational programmes should deliberately create conditions for knowledge transfer between experienced practitioners and younger or less experienced learners – not just expert-to-student, but peer-to-peer and practitioner-to-practitioner.

→ Example Implementation: VET programmes in textile, fashion, or sustainability fields can integrate mentorship modules where learners work alongside experienced circular enterprise practitioners.

→ Practical Step: Design a structured mentorship framework for circular social enterprises, including observation days, shared reflection sessions, and documented knowledge transfer outcomes.

The CozyReWear replication shows that models can be taught by being lived

Lesson: The most powerful form of circular economy education is the demonstration that a model works – and that it can be adapted. Retex’s evolving role as the recycling backbone of CozyReWear’s closed-loop fashion system demonstrates replication in action.

→ Adaptation: Educational resources should document not just the original model but its replication logic – what conditions made transfer possible, what adaptations were needed, what challenges arose.

→ Example Implementation: Create a “replication case study” format that pairs the original Retex story with the CozyReWear partnership, showing learners how a community model becomes systemic infrastructure.

→ Practical Step: Develop a facilitated learning module that guides participants through the Retex-to-CozyReWear journey as a systems thinking exercise: identifying actors, material flows, enabling conditions, and replication potential.

🔧 Practical Steps for Implementation #

• Assess local textile waste flows: Conduct a waste composition audit to quantify the textile fraction in municipal solid waste; document informal disposal routes (landfill, burning, abandonment)
• Map skills and capacities: Identify women and other potential workers with textile industry backgrounds or relevant craft skills; assess their availability and employment barriers
• Identify premises: Locate accessible, centrally situated space – preferably a former industrial or public building – for collection, sorting, and initial processing
• Establish collection partnerships: Engage schools, kindergartens, sports clubs, Red Cross, and religious communities as regular textile drop-off promoters
• Structure the sorting and output flows: Define clear criteria for three outputs – redistribution (humanitarian), resale (circular products), and recycling (industrial input)
• Build social service connections: Formalise redistribution agreements with social service centres, defining eligible recipient families and monthly distribution schedules
• Develop industrial off-take agreements: Identify regional manufacturers of insulation, furniture, or automotive components who use recycled fibre; negotiate initial purchase agreements
• Align with public employment frameworks: Register circular economy sorting roles as eligible activities under national employment agency public works schemes; access co-financing
• Embed in local sustainability strategy: Present the model to the municipality for inclusion in the local waste management or sustainable development action plan
• Connect with sustainable fashion actors: Market processing capacity to circular fashion brands seeking credible end-of-life solutions; develop the “circular processing services” offer
• Monitor and communicate impact: Track tonnes collected, families supported, women employed, and industrial materials produced; communicate results regularly to donors, citizens, and policy partners

✅ Transferability

This model is transferable to:

• Municipalities and cities with significant textile waste challenges
• Rural and peri-urban communities with a history of textile manufacturing
• NGOs and social enterprises working with hard-to-employ women
• VET institutions and adult learning programmes seeking embedded circular economy education
• Sustainable fashion brands seeking traceable, community-based end-of-life processing
• Regional circular economy clusters and zero-waste community networks

Disclaimer / Copyright Notice
Parts of this material were created and structured with the support of AI research tools. The content was created to support analysis and reporting and was adapted and reviewed by the project team. Research was conducted using publicly available sources, UNDP Serbia databases, and institutional reports.

Parts of this material were created and structured with the support of ChatGPT (OpenAI, GPT-5); other parts were searched and created using CoPilot. The content was created to support analysis and reporting and was adapted and reviewed by the project team. Research was conducted using Bing and/or Google searches.

All trademarks and product names mentioned are acknowledged and remain the property of their respective owners.

 17.04.2026 Europe, BeCom Project Team