A taskforce dedicated to reducing the environmental impacts of fashion and textile waste has been established by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) in collaboration with the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU).
- In the next 12 months, the taskforce will start rolling out pilot projects and plan to expand their network across the region.
Getting Started: The new Greater Manchester Sustainable Textiles and Fashion Group aims to bring together experts, local authorities, regional and national fashion and textile companies to come up with solutions to reduce some of these impacts.
- A range of methods will be explored, including evaluating recycling and sorting practices, developing new business markets for recycled textiles, and investigating where technology and innovation can deliver more environmentally and commercially effective processes.
- The establishment of the stakeholder group forms part of a wider University project named REDUCES, which sees a consortium of universities and regional authorities across six European countries work together to pool existing research, knowledge and current practices.
- The project, funded by Interreg Europe, will help the Greater Manchester team benefit from shared learning with other regions from across Europe.
Challenges Ahead: The challenge now would be to secure both the support and funding necessary to drive forward the social and technological innovation required to deliver these changes.
- The first undertaking for the group would be to form an understanding of the scale and nature of the textile waste problem in Greater Manchester and beyond.
- To do this, the group has been running workshops to scope out a feasibility study that is designed to gather data on where textile waste comes from and ends up.
- The study aims to increase understanding of how emerging sorting and reprocessing technologies might help to create valuable materials from non-reusable textiles.
- By plugging critical data gaps and piloting new initiatives, the group hopes to make Greater Manchester a leading, regional example of how to develop a sustainable textiles economy, that can be rolled out to other cities and regions nationally and internationally.
- This is in sync with the Government’s plans to reduce the impacts of textile waste through the introduction of Waste Prevention Programme and Textiles 2030, which aims to reduce the environmental footprint of the sector through science-based targets.
What They Said:
With the establishment of this new group, we have taken a huge step forward in being able to reduce the environmental footprint of fashion and textile consumption. First, here in the North West, but eventually using the outcomes of this project to make a difference further afield. It’s a huge accomplishment to have been able to establish a comprehensive sector stakeholder group who have the experience and expertise to be able to identify and develop solutions to the waste challenges created by this industry.
— Professor Paul Hooper
Interim Director, Ecology and Environment Research Centre
Manchester Metropolitan University
The GM Sustainable Textiles and Fashion Group is a fantastic addition to efforts across Greater Manchester to reduce waste. The team will support the development of GMCA’s ambitious Sustainable Consumption Plan, to create a more sustainable, circular city-region, where waste is reduced and valued as a resource. We know that the products and goods we all consume, and the waste produced after their use has a significant impact on our environment, both inside and outside the city region.
— Martyn Cox
Lead, Environment and Waste and Recycling
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
