Textiles

We work with brands, manufacturers, policymakers, and industry platforms to address the systemic challenges of today’s linear textile system, characterised by high resource extraction and rapid disposal that depletes both natural and human capital. Through research, data, and capacity building, we support the transition towards a circular textiles industry in which products are designed, produced, used, collected, and reintroduced into the supply chain as valuable raw materials, contributing to a fair, regenerative, and sustainable future for fashion, footwear, and textiles.

We do this by: 1) Providing evidence for circularity: researching textile waste volumes and recycling potential, analysing value chain solutions, and assessing socioeconomic impacts to inform decision-making and drive circularity across global value chains; 2) Leadership and project support: designing pre-competitive initiatives and providing tailored support to organisations, businesses, and multilaterals, including the EU, UNIDO, Laudes Foundation, and H&M Foundation, to accelerate circularity, deliver measurable solutions, and inform policy development; and 3) Training and capacity building: empowering brands and manufacturers through workshops to design out waste, improve product durability, and collaborate on more circular and sustainable products.

Through projects such as The Circularity Gap Report (CGR®) Textiles, which demonstrates how circular strategies could make the textile industry three times more circular, halve its environmental footprint, and significantly reduce textile waste, the programme provides robust, data-driven insights to guide industry action. Additional initiatives include Solutions for Textile Integrated Circular Economy (SOLSTICE), a Horizon Europe project developing scalable solutions for climate-neutral and circular textile practices, where Circle Economy supported consumer focus groups across four territories, and Sorting for Circularity Europe, launched in 2021 with Fashion for Good. Supported by partners including Laudes Foundation, adidas, BESTSELLER, Inditex, Zalando, and H&M Group, this work mapped textile waste flows and informed scalable solutions, with the methodology subsequently expanding to initiatives in India and the United States, as well as Rewear and Closing the Footwear Loop.