Circular Textiles: Solutions and Innovations
“The fashion and textile sector [is] the frontline against the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste.”
So says the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
They’re not exaggerating: every second, the equivalent of a rubbish lorry-load of clothes is burnt or buried in landfill. The UNEP’s goal is to move the sector towards a sustainable and circular textile value chain focused on sustainable production, reuse and repair. The concept of circular textiles is the ongoing reuse of textiles to promote minimal manufacturing.
The UNEP co-hosts the International Day of Zero Waste each March. Attendees of this year’s events discovered that Norway’s LiiS.com is leasing durable and repairable coveralls to pre-school children and that India’s Closing the Loop programme is diverting post-consumer textiles from landfills to recycling and upcycling initiatives, e.g. creating yarns and felt. Attendees also learnt how people are experimenting with textiles made from sustainable sources, like agricultural waste. Influential people like Dia Mirza showcased items that were handwoven, upcycled, made from offcuts or had been kept for years.
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The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has practical tips for clothing companies to be more circular.
Firstly, products should be made from safe and recycled or renewable inputs and be designed to last longer, be repaired and be remade.
Secondly, business models must keep products in use through resale, rental, repair and remaking services.
Thirdly, the foundation highlights the need for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies, meaning companies that sell physical items are responsible for what happens to them at the end of their life. Clothing brands, retailers and importers will have to pay for and organise the collection, reuse, recycling or proper disposal of textiles.
As another way of fighting textile waste, Bristol has become the first British city to ban fast fashion adverts on all council-owned advertising spaces. Its new restrictions will also curb ads for other polluting industries like cruises, fossil fuels and airlines.
All of this goes to show that when people come together, things can change. The solutions are out there; we just need to keep the pressure up on the textile industry and people in power.
Next, read about why the UK needs a circular economy plan.
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For more information contact: info@scarabtrust.org.uk
Image: Textile Design - Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (ST ref: 1435)
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