Fashion and the circular economy

While many low-income countries have a relatively high rate of clothing utilisation, elsewhere rates are much lower. In the US, for example, clothes are only worn for around a quarter of the global average. Globally, customers miss out on USD 460 billion of value each year by throwing away clothes that they could continue to wear, and some garments are estimated to be discarded after just seven to ten wears.

The textiles industry relies mostly on non-renewable resources – 98 million tonnes in total per year – including oil to produce synthetic fibres, fertilisers to grow cotton, and chemicals to produce, dye, and finish fibres and textiles. With its low rates of use (leading to high levels of throughput) and low levels of recycling, the current wasteful, linear system is the root cause of this massive and ever-expanding pressure on resources. The industry’s immense footprint extends beyond the use of raw materials.

If the fashion industry continues on its current path, by 2050 it could use more than 26% of the carbon budget associated with a 2°C global warming limit. Moving away from the current linear and wasteful textiles system is therefore crucial to keep the 2°C average global warming limit within reach.

It produces and provides access to high-quality, affordable, individualised clothing. In a new textiles economy, everyone has access to the clothes that they need, when they need them. New business models give customers more flexibility on the clothes they’d like to wear and provide access to clothes that might not be affordable through traditional sales. Clothes are designed and produced at a high quality, are durable, and provide different functionalities and flexibility – for example, in the form of personal styles, customised or modifiable clothes.

It captures the full value of clothing during and after use. In a new textiles economy clothes are used more often, which allows their value to be captured fully. Once clothes cannot be used anymore, recycling them into new clothes allows the value of the materials to be captured at different levels. To be able to capture the value of all materials once garments are no longer worn, it is necessary to ensure that design aligns with recycling processes that are available today.

It runs on renewable energy and uses renewable resources where their input is needed. The energy required to fuel a new textiles economy is renewable, decreasing resource dependence and increasing system resilience. Resources are kept in the system and where input is needed, this comes from renewable resources. This means using renewable feedstock for plastic-based fibres and not using fossil-fuel-based fertilisers or pesticides in the farming of biologically-based input. A new textiles economy further enables this shift to renewables as its very nature ensures that less energy and fewer resources are consumed.

It reflects the true cost (environmental and societal) of materials and production processes in the price of products. In a new textiles economy, the price of clothing reflects the full costs of its production, including negative environmental and societal impacts. Such costs are first analysed and presented in company reporting, and ultimately reflected in product prices.

It regenerates natural systems and does not pollute the environment. Renewable resources are extracted from nature by regenerative and restorative methods that rebuild natural capital (the world’s stock of natural resources). This means using regenerative agriculture for biological-based input such as cotton, and sustainably managed forests for wood-based fibres. Substances of concern do not leak into the environment or risk the health of textile workers and clothing users. Plastic microfibres are not released into the environment and ocean. Other pollutants, such as greenhouse gases, are designed out.

A new textiles economy is distributive by design. As part of promoting overall system health, a new textiles economy presents new opportunities for distributed and inclusive growth. It creates a thriving ecosystem of enterprises from small to large, retaining and then circulating enough of the value created so that businesses and their employees can participate fully in the wider economy.