Retaining product value in post-consumer textiles: How to scale a closed-loop system

Abstract

In the face of rapidly growing sustainability challenges, pressure is mounting on businesses to decouple production from virgin resources, reduce waste and phase-out pollution. The Circular Economy (CE) is important for addressing resource efficiency within the textiles sector. In a CE for textiles, clothes would be used more, made to be recycled, and made from safe and renewable inputs. Textiles-to-textiles (T-T) recycling is a key component of a circular textiles industry yet represents only 1% of global textiles production. This paper sets out to answer how a closed-loop system for recycling post-consumer textiles (PCT) can be scaled. Whilst T-T recycling is a rapidly emerging industry, there is a lack of clarity on the enabling conditions needed to scale significantly throughout the value chain. By means of semi-structured interviews with practitioners participating in textiles CE activities, a holistic analysis of the barriers and enablers at all stages of the value chain has been conducted. The paper concludes with practical recommendations addressing each T-T supply chain actor. It makes an important contribution to understanding how actors in the circular value chain, policymakers and convening bodies can act in concert to successfully scale a system for collecting and recycling PCT.