ANSA Economia PMI reported on April 23, 2026 the operational plan of Italy’s National Social Tailoring Network for the recovery of the 8,700 tonnes of Italian wool that go to landfill each year. The network was founded in Termoli on January 25, 2025 and opened its working laboratory in Isernia in February 2026 under the programme «100% Lana Italica — reweaving the threads of a story». The initiative coordinates with Progetto Lana SrL of Prato and with the EU project Marlaine.
In Italy, coarse wool from sheep shearing is classified as ABP — Animal By-Product Category 3 under EU Regulation 1069/2009. The same category as industrial keratin and animal food scraps. By law it must be disposed of: landfill, incineration, controlled dispersion. The modern industrial system no longer uses it.
Yet this same fibre clothed an entire peninsula for eight centuries. It is coarser than the Merino used for apparel, but it shares the same keratin chemistry, the same moisture absorption, the same biodegradability.
The numbers speak for themselves. 8,700 tonnes a year correspond to roughly 15 million square metres of potential textile. Blankets, felts, fabric for artisan apparel, building insulation, agricultural fertilisers (Rinnovabili confirms the last one). The point is not saving the planet — it is that there is a supply chain the system stopped seeing.
Prato’s textile district has repositioned. Cerved Monitor projects +1.7% growth for Made in Italy sectors in 2026, driven by export and sustainability. Il Sole 24 Ore called 2026 the year of recovery for Italian textile. Marlaine, an EU programme funded in March 2026, has recognised Prato as the technical lead for innovative applications of waste wool.
For anyone buying an Italian garment, the difference between a supply chain that recovers material and one that imports it already cut is measurable. It does not show on the label. It shows on where the hands that worked the garment actually live.
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