Transforming Public Procurement and Circular Business Models in Urban Textiles through Cross-Sectoral Collaboration

The textile sector is one of the most resource-intensive industries globally, contributing significantly to environmental degradation, urban waste, and unsustainable consumption patterns. At the same time, it holds immense potential for circular transformation particularly in urban contexts where public procurement, design culture, and local production systems intersect. The THREAD project aims to unlock this potential by developing, piloting, and scaling innovative circular business models (CBMs) in the urban textile sector, using public procurement as a strategic lever, and fostering deep cross-sectoral collaboration among public authorities, researchers, and creative industries. Public procurement in cities from uniforms for public workers to upholstery for public transport, schools, and cultural venues offers a powerful, yet underutilised, opportunity to support circularity. However, most procurement practices still rely on linear supply chains, prioritising cost over lifecycle impact, and failing to incentivise circular solutions such as repairability, reuse, modularity, and recyclable fibres. THREAD addresses this gap by enabling municipalities to become launching customers for circular textile solutions, thus aligning their procurement strategies with broader urban sustainability and climate neutrality goals.