Textiles 2030 - Moving Towards a Circular System
KATIE POWELL, a consultant at Resource Futures, takes us through new attitudes to fashion following the first Covid-19 lockdown and the launch of Textiles 2030 - a UK-wide roadmap for circular textiles.
Like many others, this crazy year has seen me pick up sewing as a hobby. It has been the perfect balance of challenging and rewarding, has allowed me to make clothes that fit my body and style, introduced me to a community of passionate sewists via Instagram, and has allowed me to take my personal sustainability journey further. I recently wrote about how my sewing sustainability journey has occurred alongside progress towards sustainability in the fashion industry (see my blog on fabric sustainability and textiles recycling for more information). Since then, we’ve entered lockdown 2.0, I’ve used a couple of remnants (sustainability win!) to make a beautiful, and I hope durable, top, and a number of new initiatives and key pieces of research have been launched.
Firstly, research by WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) has shown that consumers have recognised the environmental cost of clothing during lockdown, with 23% of people now repairing clothes, and 19% keeping garments for longer. More than half see clothing’s environmental impact as severe, and WRAP has issued a warning to retailers that they must up their sustainability credentials or risk losing sales.
Many major brands and retailers are signed up to the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP) 2020 voluntary agreement designed to cut carbon, water and waste by influencing product design and manufacture, re-use and recycling. With one year to go, the carbon and water targets have already been exceeded. However, the waste targets have been missed, with a waste reduction of 2.3% against a target of 3.5%, and household clothing waste reduced only 4% against a target of 15% (see SCAP 2019 progress report).
As SCAP 2020 ends, Textiles 2030 takes over. Textiles 2030 will launch in April 2021 and aims to accelerate the fashion industry’s move away from our current ‘take, make, use, throw’ model towards a circular system. In this system clothes are used for longer, are re-used and recycled fibres are used to create new products whilst carbon and water impacts are reduced. Moving away from percentage-based targets for waste reduction, Textiles 2030 aims to collaboratively create and deliver a UK-wide roadmap for circular textiles. Textiles 2030 defines circular in this context to mean durable, recyclable and with waste designed out. It also aims for more products sold for reuse than new.
The UK textile industry is also due to benefit from part of a £22.5 million Government fund to reduce waste and boost recycling. The Interdisciplinary Textiles Circularity Centre, led by the Royal College of Art, will develop new ‘designed and made in the UK’ industries to reduce reliance on imported, environmentally and ethically impactful clothing. The centre will lead research to turn pre-loved textiles, agriculture by-products and household waste into renewable materials for use in textiles and develop new UK-based supply chains for the whole garment lifecycle.
With garments worn most and longest deemed most sustainable, new initiatives are appearing to encourage this. Last month Italian sustainable brand Maakola announced its playful solution to the challenge. QR codes are included in all garments involved and an app allows the consumer to scan the code and take a selfie for every wear, which is then shared on social media. When specific milestones are achieved, the user receives awards such as free items or discount vouchers. Given the average garment is worn only ten times before disposal, this has to be a step in the right direction. However, awarding users with free items or discount vouchers incentivises consumption and the associated negative social and environmental impacts.
It is great to see such progress coming from across the board, with consumers, industry and government making steps to understand and tackle the impact of the fashion industry. There is a lot of work to do and we all have a role to play!
Katie Powell is a consultant at Resource Futures, an employee-owned, independent environmental consultancy with a 30-year heritage in the waste and resources industry. Katie is passionate about waste reduction and sustainability in general, and applies this to her everyday life through interests in gardening, cooking and sewing.
Katie is pictured here wearing the top she made during Lockdown 2.0.