The HALO-TEX
Consortium

AAU is a young and dynamic university located in northern Denmark with approximately 21,000 students and 3.600 salaried employees. Thanks to world-class research environments, AAU has gained top ranking in several international lists. According to Times Higher Education impact ranking 2024, AAU ranks in the world Top 5 on sustainability. According to the US News World Ranking, AAU ranks as no. 250 in the overall world university rankings and for the sixth time in a row, best in Europe, within the field of Engineering. As an endorser of the European Charter & Code for Researchers, AAU will provide excellent framework conditions for me to accomplish my project. AAU supports researchers with excellent conditions and has extensive experience in European funding, with 321 H2020 and HE projects, including 100 ongoing.

Haloderma (Denmark) is a spin-out from Aalborg University specializing in high-performance dermocosmetics for sensitive and problem skin. Leveraging a patented, solvent-free extraction technology, Haloderma sustainably sources bioactives — particularly polyphenols — from halophytic plants like Salicornia. These compounds are clinically relevant for calming itch, redness, and irritation while promoting skin barrier repair. 
The company’s flagship product lines, Natural Relief and Halo Vitae, are vegan, fragrance-free, and fully compliant with EU Cosmetics Regulation. Haloderma ensures a low-carbon, zero-waste, and fully traceable production process — from field to face — anchored in circular bioeconomy principles. 
With strong roots in green chemistry and regenerative agriculture, Haloderma contributes to EU priorities in sustainable innovation, plant-based health solutions, and next-generation cosmeceuticals.

Halorefine is a university spin-out commercializing a patented, low-input cascade extraction platform designed for lignified and salt-tolerant biomass—including halophytes like Salicornia, as well as macroalgae, seaweed, and microalgae. Operating through modular, on-site container units, the company efficiently converts end-of-season and nonarable biomass—often unsuitable for conventional use—into high-value products such as polyphenols, proteins, clean fibers, functional additives, and bioenergy. The process minimizes solvent, water, and energy use, aligning with circular economy and regenerative agriculture principles. Halorefine’s iterative optimization approach combines modelling, techno-economic analysis, and scale-up testing to ensure environmental and economic viability. Its technology serves diverse markets including cosmeceuticals, health ingredients for biopharma applications, green textiles, animal feed additives, biofuels, fermentation media, and a novel natural corrosion inhibitor.

Wageningen University & Research is a collaboration between Wageningen University and the Wageningen Research foundation. "To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life".
That is the mission of Wageningen University & Research. Over 7,600 employees, 13,100 students and over 150.000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning from more than hundred countries work everywhere around the world in the domain of healthy food and living environment for governments and the business community-at-large.

The strength of Wageningen University & Research lies in its ability to join the forces of specialised research institutes and the university. It also lies in the combined efforts of the various fields of natural and social sciences. This union of expertise leads to scientific breakthroughs that can quickly be put into practice and be incorporated into education. This is the Wageningen Approach. Collaboration with other parties such as government, business and NGOs are indispensable.

CELABOR is a Belgian private scientific and technical center based in the Walloon region. As an SME, CELABOR is offering scientific and technical support to companies involved in all sectors of the circular-economy and bioeconomy including agri-food, green processes, packaging, textile and environment. CELABOR will participate mainly in the extraction and the functionalization of the lignin and others compounds from halophytes and CELABOR will also lead the WP2 about process stream conversion to textile additives (fire retardancy and UV resistance) and cosmetic ingredients.

NTT is a public-private research center based in Prato, Italy, that is one of the main textile districts in Europe. NTT carries out R&D activities with a focus on sustainability, with the use of recycled and bio-based materials, and circular economy, exploiting mechanical recycling processes to convert textile waste into high-value, upcycled products. NTT specializes in advanced materials, polymers, and composites, leveraging innovative process technologies for textile finishing, product functionalization, biobased solutions, and green chemistry. Additionally, NTT excels in designing and constructing demonstrators and prototypes. The research centre is also strongly committed to circularity, environmental technologies, and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

ITENE is a private, non-profit research centre established in 1994 in Valencia (Spain) that helps companies throughout the packaging, transport and logistics value chain by generating and transferring scientific and technological knowledge via R&D projects, testing, consultancy and training; its work is organised around four strategic areas—sustainable materials and circular-economy technologies, packaging design / safety / functionality, chemical exposure and air-quality monitoring, and logistics and smart mobility—so firms can build safer, more competitive and environmentally responsible supply chains.

Founded in 1987, Sun Tekstil is a leader in Turkey for manufacturing and exporting textiles and garments with a family of 1700+ people. Preferred by prestigious fashion brands, Sun Tekstil designs, produces and offers trendsetting styles with a focus on circular knit fabrics and ready-made womenswear garments. With the support of a large production network, Sun Tekstil has the capability to quickly adapt and respond to clients’ needs. Sun Tekstil R&D Center, certified and supported by the Ministry of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkey, was established in 2010. Understanding customer needs and pain points, designing user-friendly solutions, building strong collaboration for market-oriented products, and delivering innovative B2B or B2C solutions are our core values. Our R&D Center has three main areas of activity: Fashion Technologies, Industrial Transformation, and Protective Technologies. Our R&D Center partnered with more than 380 partners from 38 countries for international R&D projects.

IRIS Technology Solutions, based in Barcelona, is a technology company specialized in advanced monitoring, industrial digitalization, and applied artificial intelligence. With a strong track record in EU-funded R&D projects, IRIS develops modular digital platforms that integrate sensor networks, real-time data processing, and advanced analytics to enhance efficiency, sustainability, and traceability across key industrial sectors. In the HALOTEX project, IRIS leads the development of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) using a microservices-based architecture, semantic interoperability, and distributed sensor data acquisition. The solution incorporates blockchain, data normalization, open RESTful APIs, and customizable visualization dashboards. It ensures compliance with standards such as GS1, IDMP, and ISO 27001, enabling full product traceability, value chain transparency, and support for the circular economy. IRIS provides a scalable and future-proof DPP solution aligned with the evolving regulatory and digital transformation needs of European industry.

KNEIA is an SME that works with public companies, research institutions, government agencies and investors to provide services on scientific communication research results valorisation and open science and will lead HALO-TEX communication, dissemination, exploitation and clustering work packages.