Circularity

A Dutch coalition of brands from across industries and with a combined annual turnover of ten billion euros has urged the government to take immediate action to accelerate the circular economy in the Netherlands.

To succeed with the EU’s textiles strategy, a systemic shift in the textiles system is needed, moving towards higher quality, longer use, reuse, repair and recycling. The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) new module of the Circularity Metrics Lab (CML) on textiles analysed 14 metrics and came up with some key findings.

Earlier this month, an incisive study looked at prevalent circular fashion (CF) narratives, and contended that CF in its current form is built on unrealistic projections and industry rhetoric. The report has created a buzz, and lead author of the study, Talia Hussain, goes beyond the report in this free-wheeling discussion about the subject.

Environmental action NGO WRAP has come out with a Design for Recyclability Toolkit for Fashion and Textiles as a practical resource to help businesses integrate recyclability into product development.

Challenging traditional design thinking with practical steps to enable change, a new practical guide provides a systematic and methodological approach to implementing circular clothing design in a way that all organisations can implement, regardless of size.

A new study pokes holes in the prevalent circular fashion narratives urging academics, policymakers, and industry stakeholders to critically reassess these and explore alternative approaches that prioritise systemic change over profitability. Future sustainability efforts must be grounded in robust empirical research rather than unexamined advocacy.

In a much-needed crucial step forward to create a more resilient, sustainable, circular textile industry, 4 leading recyclers have initiated a textile-to-textile recyclers alliance that would fight for policy changes in a strong voice at key policy discussions.

The T-REX (Textile Recycling Excellence) project, a consortium of 13 industry leaders, committed to developing a blueprint for a harmonised EU framework for textile-to-textile recycling, has emphasised the need for standardised definitions of recyclability, scalable recycling technologies, and policy measures that align with industry realities.

Worn-out jeans, old woollen sweaters, polyester textile waste and recycled linen is what Goor-based Blue Loop Originals uses to craft a high-quality second life for discarded clothing. With the mission “Worn to Reborn”, its Dutch Founder Ron van de Wiel started Blue Loop in 2013 when he realised that 640 million pairs of jeans are discarded annually in Europe. Texfash talks to the man to know more.

Portugal’s University of Coimbra (UC) is developing innovative technologies to make textile dyeing more cost-effective and sustainable and a just launched project—DyeLoop—uses unique circular economy technologies to reuse dyes and significantly reduce water and energy consumption.