In the textile industry, Circularity is the new buzzword, trending even more than sustainability. Fashion and textile businesses across the globe are embracing Circularity in their business to attain sustainability. Though it’s not as easy as it may sound, brands face many challenges while embracing circularity in textile industries.
Moreover, to move towards circularity, textile and apparel players need to modify their policies, culture, and the initiatives they take to take their brands to a level up.
Brands with short-term promises and substandard quality are no longer sufficient to put the sector back on track. It is high time they make fundamental and long-term commitments to re-design and re-think their value chain.
Here are three significant challenges of the circularity battlefield; fashion players are embracing.
Go Beyond Recycling
Recycling, the first idea to hits minds when it comes to Circularity in textile industries. Many brands are focusing on recycling campaigns. These efforts are worth celebrating, but that’s obviously not enough to bring about a big change.
It is time to rethink the entire process and create new policies based on environmental and business sustainability. The industry needs a shift from a linear model towards a circular model.
The most vital element for Circularity comes down to the end of the product’s life and brands seek to optimize the Circularity of the raw materials in their products.
The industry needs to chase the restorative and regenerative supply chain that starts at the very beginning of manufacturing yarns. For example, while adopting recycled material, it is essential to know how sustainable the fibre-recycling process is and compare that to the energy level consumption for taking on the new raw material.
Circular Economy Model
The circular economy model can ensure that “clothes never become trash.” Often fashion players find it challenging to shift their business model to a completely circular economy model from a linear economy model.
The circularity in textile industries works with technology, government agencies, research and multilateral organization, and education to identify and define circular jobs. It also determines the environment required to create and sustain them, as well as the technology that can facilitate advancement.
By embracing practices such as Repair, Rental, Resale, and Recapture, the fashion industry can start to unlock some of the $60 billion, that it currently misses out on because clothing is not used at the fullest before it is discarded, and then rarely recycled.
Advance Circularity
There are many advancements in the textile industry to progress and encourage Circularity, yet there are many businesses that are missing on advance circularity.
Most of the brands use recycled fabric scraps as a part of advanced circularity; the practice brings a host of challenges as recycling fabrics using blended fibres is extremely difficult.
The sorting of textiles is one of the time-consuming, inefficient, and often inaccurate efforts, to identify the fibre content. When clothes are recycled, they are often turned into rags, insulation, or upholstery stuffing.
Cognizant of these challenges, many fashion brands are developing more sustainable fibre to replace traditional blended fibres.
The Road Ahead of circularity in textile industries
Despite all the circularity initiatives taken by the industry across the world, 15 percent of clothes are collected in recycling, and only 1 percent of clothing is recycled into new clothing. Seventy-three per cent of the world’s total clothing eventually ends in landfills, as per the report of Global Fashion Agenda and Boston Consulting Group.
The Journey towards Circularity has just begun. The fashion and yarn manufacturers in India have to go miles to be sustainable and circular. All-size businesses are introducing Circularity through the entire value chain. From designing clothes to recycling textile waste, Circularity is everywhere. Brands are continuously chasing innovations to improve the quality of recycled fibre. However, they still need to align their designs and manufacturing arms more tightly.
Along with industry players, government and policymakers also play a vital role in the Journey of Circularity. Policymakers are striving the innovative approaches in the textile and apparel industry to transiting to a circular economy.
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