A survey in the UK on ‘Clothing Longevity and Circular Business Models’ reveals that cost is the primary reason why pre-loved, rental, upcycled and repair models are not yet popular. And, UK citizens stack an average of 118 items of clothing in their wardrobes, with 26% or more not worn in the past year.

A Delta Framework has been launched by Better Cotton and partners to arrive at a harmonised approach to sustainability performance reporting, designed to support business, governments and not-for-profit actors alike in quantifying and communicating their progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Worn Again Technologies, an innovator in chemical recycling, has secured yet another round of £27.6 million funding, the start-up’s most successful tranche since its founding, dedicated to a largescale demo plant that will leverage ground-breaking polymer processing technologies to upcycle 1,000 tonnes of textiles per year.

Buoyed by the rapidly growing demand, it is for the fifth year in a row that production of global organic cotton has increased. However, the bad news is that all data needs to be accepted with a pinch of salt, according to the latest Organic Cotton Market Report 2022. A texfash.com report.

With less than 1% of the global fibre market from pre- and post-consumer recycled textiles in 2021, the untethered production will ensure that the industry does not stay within the 1.5° pathway, the Preferred Fiber & Materials Market Report warns.

An overwhelming 95% of the world’s handmade fabrics are supposed to come from India, but the sector remains largely unacknowledged, even in the country. A new UNESCO report has emphasised on the need for policy interventions to make the sector viable, competitive and equitably structured.

Research and development of fibres in Finland has received a boost, with Business Finland granting €1.6 million to fibre manufacturer Spinnova. The project is meant to explore possibilities of fibre utilisation in new application areas and product segments such as composites and nonwovens.

Consumers in the US and UK are increasingly having to prioritise price over sustainability as living costs continue to rise on both sides of the Ocean. Most believe that fashion needs to be sustainable, but are often confused by what sustainability claims really mean.

Retailers and merchants in the US have welcomed the Federal Reserve’s long-awaited approval of new rules making it clear that merchants’ right to choose which payment networks process trillions of dollars in debit card transactions each year applies the same online as it does in stores and must be honoured by banks and card companies.

UNCTAD's Trade and Development Report 2022 has cautioned that advanced economies would need to change course in their monetary and fiscal policies to avoid inflicting a worse damage than the financial crisis of 2008 and the COVID-19 shock of 2020. The cascading crises resulting from the pandemic combined with debt distress, inflation, climate change and the war in Ukraine have already turned a global slowdown into a downturn.