STA, 3 June - President Borut Pahor will host on Wednesday and Thursday a summit of the Three Seas Initiative, to be attended by eight presidents of the member countries, the president of the European Commission and the US secretary of energy. PM Marjan Šarec will meanwhile host a business forum of the initiative, expected to feature more than 550 guests.

The 4th summit of the Three Seas Initiative, an informal forum of twelve EU members from Central and Eastern Europe, is one of the largest meetings at the presidential level in independent Slovenia.

Coming to Ljubljana are eight presidents of the member states - Rumen Radev of Bulgaria, Miloš Zeman of the Czech Republic, Kersti Kaljulaid of Estonia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović of Croatia, Raimonds Vejonis of Latvia, Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania, Andrzej Duda of Poland and Klaus Iohannis of Romania.

Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen has excused himself because of the government crisis in Austria, as have Janos Ader of Hungary and Andrej Kiska of Slovakia. Hungary and Slovakia will be represented by deputy prime ministers, while Austria will be represented by its ambassador to Slovenia.

Coming as a guest of the initiative after visiting Slovenia less than a month ago is German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, while European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and US Acting Assistant Secretary of European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker have also confirmed their attendance.

The summit will also feature the vice-presidents of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), Jürgen Rigterink and Vazil Hudak.

More than 130 representatives of governments and international organisations in total are expected to come to Ljubljana.

This summit is expected to be the largest meeting so far of the initiative connecting the countries on the Adriatic, Black and Baltic seas, whose beginnings go back to 2015.

The first summit of the Three Seas Initiative was held in Dubrovnik in 2016, followed by summits in Warsaw in 2017 and in Bucharest in 2018.

The initiative has enjoyed clear support from the US, with President Donald Trump attending the summit two years ago. What speaks about the influence of the US in the initiative are plans to diversify energy supply with liquefied gas from the US.

Many perceive the initiative as a counter-weight to the Chinese initiative 17+1, which promotes business and investment cooperation between China and 16 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and Greece.

The idea of the Three Seas Initiative is to strengthen regional dialogue and connect EU member states on the north-south axis through the promotion of investments in business, transport connections, energy infrastructure and digital communications.

Due to strong interest from the US, many initially perceived the initiative as an "American Trojan Horse" in the EU, but the initiative has since developed, according to its backers, into a regional forum of integration within the union, which is also important for strengthening the trans-Atlantic ties.

Since the initiative is becoming more important also from the economic aspect, as the member states are trying to promote strategic projects in the region, a business forum will be held in Ljubljana along with the summit.

Hosted by the Slovenian government and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), the forum is expected to feature at least 585 guests discussing energy, transport, digitalisation and innovation, and networking.

At the summit, the attending presidents are expected to adopt a statement calling on the European Commission to place emphasis on the investment projects promoted by the initiative. It is meant to call for a reduction of the region's development lag behind the western EU members, according to diplomatic sources.

The event will start with the opening of the business part, followed by a panel debate featuring all visiting presidents, the US secretary of energy and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. The debate will be moderated by President Pahor himself.

The panel debate is expected to discuss geo-political challenges of the EU between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic seas, the results of the recent elections to the European Parliament, and what they will bring for the future of the bloc.

The presidential meetings will continue behind closed doors in Brdo pri Kranju on Thursday, with Pahor expected to present the result of the talks at a press conference together with Duda, Iohannis and Grabar-Kitarović as the hosts of previous summits. They will be joined by Juncker.

The summit has attracted significant interest from the media, with around 170 media representatives from 50 media houses, including 30 foreign reporters, accredited for the event.

STA, 3 June 2019 - Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek and Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy and Hubert Aiwanger highlighted industry 4.0 and digitalisation as potential fields of closer future cooperation as Počivalšek started a two-day visit to Germany on Monday.

Počivalšek also pointed to the continuing cooperation in the auto industry and the need for the EU to become the leader in autonomous vehicles using AI, saying Slovenian companies can provide the know-how, experience and technology in this field too.

He and Aiwanger agreed Slovenia and Bavaria should strengthen cooperation when it comes to vehicles powered by alternative energy sources as well.

Počivalšek highlighted Slovenia's advantages as an investment destination and Aiwanger proposed a visit by Bavarian delegation to focus on digitalisation, high tech, transport and logistics.

Tourism as a potential field of cooperation through investment was noted too, while Počivalšek also pointed to the possibility of conference and other business events in Slovenia and invited German tourism companies to attend Conventa, the exhibition for convention tourism in SE Europe, and the Natour Alpe-Adria tourism and leisure fair.

On Tuesday, Počivalšek will take part in the biennial Transport Logistic fair. In 2017, more than 2,100 exhibitors from 62 countries and regions took part in the fair, attracting over 60,000 visitors from 123 countries and regions. The 2017 exhibition hall covered an area of 115,000 m2.

The number of exhibitors from China is expected to double to 64 at this year's fair.

According to the Economy Ministry, 19 Slovenian companies will present themselves at the trade fair under the auspices of the investment promotion agency Spirit, including the intermodal operator Adria Kombi, logistics company Intereuropa and port operator Luka Koper.

Germany is Slovenia's most important economic partner - the countries recorded a EUR 13.5 billion trade exchange in 2018. Slovenia's exports exceeded imports by more than EUR 1 billion. Germany is also one of the leading investors in Slovenia.

Bavaria is particularly important as a trade partner since it is listed as the third among all German federal states in terms of the trade exchange with Slovenia - Slovenia's exchange with Bavaria amounts to 19% of all the exchange between Slovenia and Germany.

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Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here

This summary is prepared by the STA

Šarec urges liberal parties to join forces

LJUBLJANA - PM Marjan Šarec called on Slovenian members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE) to join forces heading into the next general election even though his party was successful independently in the recent EU vote. "Whichever way you look at it, ALDE parties will have to join forces as a matter of urgency if we don't want excessive fragmentation," Šarec said in a Facebook post on Monday. Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) leader Karl Erjavec endorsed in principle Šarec's idea, saying such consolidation was "very realistic" and merited "in-depth consideration." The Modern Centre Party (SMC) and Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) expressed reservations, with the SAB saying it did not believe Šarec was serious, and the SMC understanding the statement as an appeal to closer cooperation that may lead to links which do not necessarily constitute a merger of parties.

Počivalšek and Bavarian minister talk cooperation in industry 4.0

MUNICH, Germany - Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek and Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy and Hubert Aiwanger highlighted industry 4.0 and digitalisation as potential fields of closer future cooperation as Počivalšek started a two-day visit to Germany. Počivalšek also pointed to the continuing cooperation in the auto industry and the need for the EU to become the leader in autonomous vehicles using AI, saying Slovenian companies can provide the know-how, experience and technology in this field too. On Tuesday, Počivalšek will take part in the biennial Transport Logistic fair. According to the Economy Ministry, 19 Slovenian companies will present themselves at the trade fair under the auspices of the investment promotion agency Spirit.

Labour Ministry confident minimum wage raise can proceed

LJUBLJANA - The macroeconomic situation in Slovenia, both in the past and now, as well as the one projected in forecasts, will allow the country to go ahead with the plan to raise the minimum wage, the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. In total, the minimum wage bill will go up by EUR 197 million next year due to the increase, heard the maiden meeting of an expert council on decent work and social security, an advisory body to the ministry comprised of representative trade unions and chaired by minister Ksenija Klampfer. This year, the minimum wage has already been raised from EUR 638 net to EUR 667, while in 2020 it is to reach EUR 700. Employers have started to push against the raise, but unions have been equally adamant to enforce it.

Road safety, drunk driving discussed at upper chamber

LJUBLJANA - The National Council hosted a panel debate at which the ministers of infrastructure, home affairs, justice and health discussed methods to improve road safety. Pointing to everyone's personal responsibility for safe driving, they said a change in the mindset would be needed to have no casualties on Slovenian roads. Traffic Safety Agency acting director Vesna Marinko said measured would be drafted on the basis of best practice to improve road safety with a view to achieve vision zero - no fatalities involving road traffic. Experts from various fields joining the debate said there was a lot of room for improvement, highlighting traffic control, infrastructure, training of young drivers or the risks posed by older drivers.

Slovenian, Croatian cohesion ministers happy with cooperation

DELNICE, Croatia - Iztok Purič, the minister of development and cohesion policy, and his Croatian counterpart Gabrijela Žalac praised the cooperation of their countries in cross-border projects as they met at an event in Risnjak National Park in Croatia, near the border with Slovenia. In his address, Purič expressed satisfaction that the Interreg Slovenia-Croatia programme has already allocated all of the funds available to it in the 2014-2020 period. The ministers also talked about the upcoming EU presidencies of their respective countries.

Waste packaging remains issue despite emergency law

LJUBLJANA - Although the country has a new law on packaging waste, the waste continues to pile up, which means the law is ineffective, two waste packaging management companies warned as they spoke to the press. Dinos and Interseroh proposed a set of measures to deal with what they said was an acute situation, with Goran Ambrož of Dinos saying that packaging waste was piling up again, making it a public health, environmental and fire hazard. The companies propose that all companies putting packaging waste on the market should pay for disposal, which means the rule under which only companies which put more than 15 tonnes on the market pay for its disposal should be eliminated.

Slovenia becomes chair of intl association of plant bakers

LJUBLJANA/MANCHESTER, UK - Slovenia became the chair of the International Association of Plant Bakers (AIBI) at the association's congress in Manchester the past weekend. For the next two years, AIBI will be led by Janez Bojc, the head of the baking section at Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) and general manager of the bread and pasta maker Žito. "This is the first time in more than sixty-year history of this respected association that Slovenia got the honour and responsibility of holding its presidency," GZS said in a press release. Slovenia's presidency will wrap up with an international baking industry conference in Bled between 27 and 30 May 2021.

WWII deportees want Slovenia to at least claim EUR 3bn from Germany

LJUBLJANA - The Society of Slovenian Deportees 1941-1945 urged Slovenia ahead of 7 June, Slovenian Deportees Day, to claim at least a symbolic portion of what it says remains around EUR 50 billion owed by Germany in war damages. The society's Ivica Žnidaršič believes Slovenians know too little about the deportations that started in June 1991. "Slovenian deportees remain the group of Slovenians that have been hurt the most, since we lost all of our property and never received reparations. We only secured our status as victims of war violence in 1995," she told the press.

European Walk of Peace planned in remembrance of WWI

BOVEC - Partners from nine countries, including Slovenia, have pledged to set up an European Walk of Peace to bring together the heritage of World War One (WWI) around Europe. Zdravko Likar, the president of the Walk of Peace Foundation, which had given the idea for this pan-European project, says that the project was "not just about remembering, it's foremost a noble idea about the necessity of peaceful coexistence among European nations." A charter on the partnership was signed by Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and Slovakia as they attended an international conference on WWI in Bovec last week.

SAZU's protest for language protection gains support

LJUBLJANA - Slovenska Matica, the nation's oldest cultural and scientific society, and the Slovenian PEN association of writers have expressed support for a recent letter to the government and the Constitutional Court in which the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU) calls for better protection of the Slovenian language. "We support the demand that all documents, all digital applications in public use must be translated to Slovenian, the official language," Slovenska Matica said shortly after the original letter of protest was presented by SAZU.

Slovenians crowned diatonic accordion world champions

VIENNA, Austria - Slovenian Danaja Grebenc has won the Junior Diatonic Accordion World Championship, while her compatriot Anže Krevh has become the world champion among adult accordion players. The international competition recently took place in Austrian Sankt Peter-Freienstein, hosted by the Austrian Accordion Association. Grebenc from Dravograd Krevh from Lovrenc na Pohorju have thus brought both titles to Slovenia in a historic achievement of winning both categories. A record number of 16 Slovenian accordionists performed at the competition.

Indian tourist dies in boating accident on the Sava

RADOVLJICA - A 34-year-old woman from India has been killed in a boating accident on the Sava river as a rafting boat carrying eight tourists capsized close to Radovljica this weekend. The woman was pulled out of the water by locals and resuscitated, but she later died in hospital, police said today. The boat, carrying eight tourists and two guides, capsized Sunday afternoon near the Šobec campsite when it hit a turn in the river, according to police.

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This summary is provided by the STA:

STA, 3 June 2019 - The Society of Slovenian Deportees 1941-1945 (Društvo izgnancev Slovenije, 1941-1945) urged Slovenia ahead of 7 June, Slovenian Deportees Day, to claim at least a symbolic portion of what it says remains around EUR 50 billion owed by Germany in war damages. The society's Ivica Žnidaršič believes Slovenians know too little about the deportations that started in June 1991.

Žnidaršič told the STA that the German occupying forces had deported 63,000 Slovenians. Around 45,000 were taken to German deportation camps, 10,000 to Croatia, 7,500 to Serbia, and 2,000 to Hungary, while around 17,000 Slovenians escaped to avoid being deported. There are believed to have also been 2,000 children among the deportees.

"Slovenian deportees remain the group of Slovenians that have been hurt the most, since we lost all of our property and never received reparations. We only secured our status as victims of war violence in 1995," she said.

According to Žnidaršič, the victims have been receiving modest annuities since then - 0.84 euro for each month of violence for the deportees and 0.50 euros for the refugees.

"A 2001 law gave us a one-off reparation payment of 25,000 Slovenian tolars or 104 euros for each month or 12,000 tolars for the refugees. There was also 864 euros paid for deceased parents. However, we never received any damage payments for the material damage," she added.

The Society of Slovenian Deportees 1941-1945 is pointing out that there is no statute of limitations for war crimes, which is why Germany still owes Slovenia around EUR 50 billion.

It expects Slovenia will claim at least EUR 3 billion, which would allow the construction of a centre for victims of war violence and secure EUR 6,000 to the still living deportees. Of what were around 80,000 who were deported or who fled there are only around 9,500 still alive today.

It was on 7 June 1941 that the deportations started with a large transport operation in Slovenska Bistrica. The day is marked by a number of events each year. The central one this year will take place at the central camp for the deportations of Slovenians in WWII at Brestanica pri Krškem.

STA, 3 June 2019 - Employers have been struggling with a shortage of staff for a while, so after years of restrictions the door to hiring foreigners are now open wide. Despite several measures aimed at protecting workers from abroad, many of them are being exploited, especially in construction.

During the crisis years, the number of foreigners working in Slovenia plunged, but now that the economy has been expanding, it is rising again.

In 2008, more than 90,500 work permits were issued to third-country workers, while the number dropped to 15,990 together with those who also had a residence permit, data by the Employment Service show.

Last year, a total of 38,938 of single work and residence permits were issued. Most of the foreigners come from the former Yugoslav republics.

Related: Foreign Nationals in Slovenia, by Country, Region & Continent

Since many of foreign workers were subjected to exploitation in the past, the Labour Ministry has been amending the labour legislation for a decade to prevent abuse. "Today we can say that the legislation in this field guarantees a high level of protection to foreign workers," the ministry told the STA.

A company can only hire a worker from abroad if it is paying out wages and social security contributions, does not have any tax debts to the state, is properly registered, has valid employment contracts, is not in receivership and if a Slovenian candidate cannot be hired for the post.

Those found to be breaking the law can be banned from hiring third-country citizens for up to two years.

But the ministry said it was still hard to prevent cases of deliberate violations, which border on human rights violations.

The Labour Inspectorate, which does not keep a separate record of violations of migrant workers' rights, told the STA that the violations of the act on the employment, self-employment and work of foreigners have been decreasing.

While 229 cases of violations were recorded in 2008, last year there were only 29, mostly in the construction sector.

Since last year, the inspectorate has also been monitoring the implementation of the transnational provision of services act, which was violated in 20 cases.

Last year, the inspectorate also recorded 21 violations of the employment relationships act, which enables fixed-term employment contracts to foreigners. In 73 cases, the rights of workers posted abroad by Slovenian employers were violated, while no violations were found of the article guaranteeing rights to workers temporarily posted to Slovenia.

In 2018, the minimal accommodation standards for foreign workers provided by employers were violated in two cases.

Related: Statistics - 1 in 8 Residents of Slovenia is an Immigrant

However, the NGO Workers' Counselling Office reports of much more violations. It claims a number of basic rights of migrant workers are being violated. Most concern non-payment of wages, social security contributions, sick leave compensation and overtime work.

Employers are also violating workers' rights when determining their working hours and forcing them into a type of employment contract termination that negatively affects the worker.

The NGO also dealt with cases where workers were checked out of social insurance retroactively and where work-related injuries or physical violence were not reported.

The NGO too receives most grievances from construction workers, but also from lorry drivers and cleaners.

Goran Lukič of the Workers' Counselling Office said the most problematic were the work permits obtained by employers for citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina (and soon also for Serbian citizens) based on a bilateral agreement, under which the worker must work for the company which paid for the permit for one year.

If they want to hold on to their work permit, the workers must stay with the company and are "often caught in forced labour," Lukič told the STA.

STA, 3 June 2019 - A 34-year-old woman from India has been killed in a boating accident on the Sava river as a rafting boat carrying eight tourists capsized close to Radovljica this weekend. The woman was pulled out of the water by locals and resuscitated, but she later died in hospital, police said on Monday.

The boat, carrying eight tourists and two guides, capsized Sunday afternoon near the Šobec campsite when it hit a turn in the river, according to police.

The guides and passengers managed to cling on to rocks and were eventually rescued by firefighters from Bled, but the Indian woman was carried by the strong current until she was pulled out of the water unconscious downstream.

Two locals resuscitated her until paramedics took over and she was transferred by helicopter to the University Medical Centre in Ljubljana, where she died in the evening.

Investigators are looking into all aspects of the accident, the Kranj police said.

The upper Sava is a popular white-water destination and the water level is currently very high due to abundant precipitation.

STA, 1 June 2019 - The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first gene therapy to treat babies with spinal muscular atrophy, an innovative therapy that also involves technology developed by the Slovenian company Bia Separations.

 The medication, Zolgensma, is manufactured by the US company Avexis, part of the Swiss group Novartis, using Bia Separations's purification technology.

Aleš Štrancar, the CEO of the Ajdovščina-based company, has hailed the approval of Zolgensma as Slovenian science's breakthrough among leading global strategic technologies.

Purification is a key process in production of medicines, in particular biological ones, because the active substance needs to be separated from other substances, which are often toxic.

The purification process represents up to 90% of the production costs of a drug.

Bia Separations's smart filters have become part of the therapy's registration, which means exclusive use of the Slovenian company's products for 20 to 30 years.

The approval makes Avexis a leading manufacturer of active agents for gene therapy, Štrancar said, adding that for Bia Separations this was a key reference project in the field.

"Our company is looking at the potential to generate more than 500 million euro in annual sales in a decade," Štrancar said.

He underscored that without this innovative gene therapy babies with spinal muscular atrophy would die before reaching the age of two years.

The medication replaces part of the flawed gene and after treatment the patients can live normally.

Štrancar noted that the therapy's approval is paving the way for development of active agents to treat rare genetic disorders in the short term, and to treat all types of disease in the long run.

STA, 31 May 2019 - An internal audit of the controversial sale of land by the state-owned bad bank to Swiss Lonstroff for an elastomer plant in Logatec has found that the bad bank had not suffered financial damage in the deal, while some employees did commit several violations.

The Bank Asset Management Company (BAMC), whose management has been overhauled in the meantime, announced in a press release on Friday that its commission for legal evaluation of responsibility had found that BAMC had not suffered damage in the deal, which was first reported on by the media in September 2018.

The bad bank added that "in different phases of the deal, BAMC employees did commit several violations of their working obligations, as they failed to respect internal BAMC acts, but these did not affect the result of the sale".

The media reported at the time that BAMC had sold a 51,000 m2 plot in Logatec, on which Lonstroff, the Swiss subsidiary of the Japanese multinational Sumitomo Rubber Industries, was building its plant, to realtor Svet Re for about EUR 40 per square metre.

Just days later, Svet Re sold a 33,000 m2 plot to Lonstroff for EUR 90 per m2, making EUR 1m in net profit in the process, and using the proceeds to pay BAMC. The bad bank sold the remainder of the plot just months later to logistics company Hoedelmayr at EUR 40 per m2.

Regarding the damage liability of the employees, the commission said that their acts related to the price of the land plot and the sale procedure had been carried out in line with the internal rules of BAMC.

The entire plot was sold to the companies Svet Re and Hoedlmayr at EUR 40 per square metre, which was a price higher than estimated in an internal appraisal, the bad bank added.

"Even if the employees in question had carried out the sale procedure completely in line with the binding rules, it is not possible to conclude that the property would have been either appraised or sold at a higher price."

BAMC added that penalties against the employees could only be carried out if there were signs of a criminal act, which had not been established in the case.

In the audit, the commission took into account the recommendations and forensic audit made by the consultancy Ernest & Young, interviews with employees and several legal opinions.

BAMC said that the procedure had resulted in "changes to acts regulating internal processes in BAMC which will help prevent similar violations from happening. A majority of the changes are already being implemented".

The media reports were soon followed by a visit by criminal police officers at the BAMC headquarters, while the Ljubljana police conducted several house searches a month ago.

The newspaper Delo reported at the time that Lonstroff Slovenia boss Peter Weber was being suspected of defrauding his company of EUR 1.7m in relation to the deal.

BAMC noted today that the president of the management board and all three executive directors had been replaced in the meantime. "BAMC will continue to cooperate with the authorities investigating the case," the release adds.

STA, 31 May 2019 - The group around the Zreče-based tool maker Unior posted a new profit of EUR 6.8 million in the first quarter of the year, up 18.4% over the same period in 2018. Its revenue increased by 8% to EUR 68.2 million.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 14% to EUR 11.3 million.

Meanwhile, the group's operating profit (EBIT) reached EUR 7.4 million, up 13.8%, according to the unaudited first-quarter report released on Friday.

The group's investments in infrastructure and equipment totalled EUR 5 million in the three-month period.

At the end of March, the group had a workforce of 3,160, a drop of 0.5 over a year ago, and the parent company had 1,820 employees.

Revenue of the parent company increased by 5.5% to EUR 44.3 million, with net profit reaching EUR 1.6 million, a rise of 46.8%.

The parent company's operating profit (EBIT) rose by 33.6% to EUR 2.3 million.

The supervisory board discussed the results on Thursday, assessing them in line with plans. The group also reduced its debt to banks by EUR 2.9 million from a year ago.

Related: Unior Forged Metals & Toolmaker Marks 100 Yrs of Work (Feature)

STA, 1 June 2019 - The University of Maribor, cooperating with the Tekstina company and the Institute for Environmental Protection and Sensors (IOS), has set up a demonstration lab for chemical textile recycling which has already caught the eye of giants like Adidas, Nike and Decathlon.

The lab has been developed as part of the European project Resyntex, which is helping develop technology for the recycling of low quality textiles usually slated for incineration or waste repositories.

Resyntex involves 20 partners, including the three Slovenian ones which have launched a demo recycling line in Maribor. They see it as harbouring major use potential, as it is meant to enable new findings with regard to obtaining secondary resources from various types of waste, not only textiles.

Also immense are the marketing possibilities, given that EU legislation has brought very ambitious new waste recycling targets.

How can your old socks drive the #circulareconomy? @RESYNTEX can transform your #textile waste into glue, plastic, paint and other products, taking #recycling to new levels. pic.twitter.com/TIoJlEcbRd

— Martin Watson (@SWVisionsBE) May 22, 2019

"In June we are mostly offering these services to the project's partners, while as of 1 July the line will be available to all who wish to think sustainably," IOS director and Maribor Faculty of Engineering professor Aleksandra Lobnik told the STA.

"We've been engaged in many talks, but no contracts have been signed yet," she said, noting that many textile companies had committed themselves to sustainable development and would now also be bound to it though legislation.

Textile waste is being treated with chemical depolarization and enzymatic degradation. The project is extra valuable in that it is the first to also tackle textile mixtures, something not possible so far.

"Such textiles make up 94% of all textiles on the market," explained Lobnik, who is the project's technical director.

The lab allows the textiles to be broken down into basic chemicals. Cellulose is for instance used to obtain glucose and thereby bioethanol, an energy source, wool is composed of proteins that can be utilized in place of toxic formaldehyde used in wood-based panels, and synthetic fibres can be used to get fresh fibres for new textile or plastic products.

The total amount of waste textiles in the EU is estimated at 16 million tonnes annually, and "waste that now means costs can become profitable".

"What we have in Maribor is only a demo lab, which allows an optimisation of the process so that an industrial facility can be built later on," Lobnik said, explaining such facilities could process several tonnes of textile waste a day.

Along with placing the findings made so far on the market, IOS wants to further step up research with partners in the future.

"Textiles are not the only problem, there are large amounts of other waste, which is why we are already developing technologies meant to also include the decomposition of other types of plastic and materials," Lobnik said.