Why you shouldn’t throw away your old clothes when moving houses!

When moving houses, you realize that it is really easy to accumulate things that we do not necessarily need. This is the moment when we realize that we produce a huge quantity of waste. Moving houses is the perfect time to focus on the essentials and keep only what you need or what makes you happy. However, to not generate more waste, you should not throw away things like clothes. Here are some tips to reduce different types of waste in your new home.

Energy waste and ecology

When moving into a new home, it is mandatory to take out an energy contract. From this contract to your consumption habits, it is possible to reduce energy waste and make your home more eco friendly.

Moving house and green energy

Moving into your new home is the perfect time to adopt new habits. Since you have to take out a new energy contract, why not change your supplier for a greener one ? When moving house, you can choose a contract that offers you green energy. Green energy is produced from renewable resources that are cleaner and safer for the environment. Choosing a green supplier is cutting the waste production at the source.

How to change your change your energy consumption habits

Changing your energy suppliers may prove difficult when you do not know anything about energy. Websites like Switch Plan are here to explain to you what is important in an energy contract. They remind you what is legal, and illegal, when to start the administrative procedures, what not to forget, etc. They also give advice on how to reduce your energy consumption and minimize energy waste. For example, appliances continue to consume energy as long as they are plugged in, even if turned off. These facts are not known to many and our consumption habits create waste that is easily preventable.

Clothes and recycling

Many people, when moving houses, throw away the clothes they no longer want to wear. This simple act is an ecological disaster. To make a simple t-shirt requires thousands of gallons of water, fabric and dye. When throwing away clothes, you are wasting all the resources that went into their making. What to do then with your old clothes ?

Donate to charity

If you have clothes that are still in good condition, you can donate them to charity. Charities will either distribute them to people in need, or sell them at a very affordable price for people who do not have the means to buy new clothes at regular stores. This allows your clothes to have a second life and reduces waste.

Recycling clothes

Clothes that are in too bad condition to be worn can be recycled. Thus, instead of becoming waste, they become raw materials to make new things. New technologies have made it so that it is possible to separate the different components of a piece of fabric so that they can be used again, separately. Waste is one of our century challenges. There are many ways of minimizing waste at an individual scale. Learn more about them on this website.

About Ashley Gill

Briefly describe your background, interests & areas of expertise?

I’ve grown up around cotton, my family has been farming in Texas for three generations. I’ve worked with Textile Exchange for 10+ years, focusing on standards, specifically our standards for recycled content. I have knowledge in multi-stakeholder groups, product labelling, chain of custody, and standards and verification methods. I’ve also helped develop Textile Exchange’s Climate strategy for 2030.

What does circularity in the textiles industry mean to you?

I’m committed to a textile industry that actually works for everyone involved. I’m convinced that we need to limit our reliance on non-renewable resources to ensure we’re able to provide for the needs of the future. Circularity can deliver that.

What does your company/organisation do to bring about circularity (core relevant activities/commitments, highlight short and long term goals, if relevant).

Textile Exchange inspires and equips people to accelerate adoption of preferred materials in the textile value chain.   We focus on carbon reduction, soil health, water and biodiversity as part of our holistic approach to drive positive impact for the entire industry.

What made your decision to join the CAP?

We know that many of the solutions that will deliver real results to the industry are still in their infancy. I see the CAP as a way to learn and help drive the scale needed to meet the ambitious goals of Textile Exchange and the companies we work with.

How important is this Circular Advisory Panel approach for preparing a company like WA for the market (i.e. a business starting out with the sole purpose of enabling circularity but entering the market in ‘linear times’)? What do you think it will bring to the company?

In a word, resilience!

What do you believe the biggest hurdles/opportunities for transitioning to a new circular business mindset will be, for WA, for the industry?

Our economy and business world are not designed to take the bigger picture or long term impacts in mind. Doing so might help create new paradigms for the other needed innovations.

Name 3 things you think businesses will be doing differently in a circular future.

1. 1. Moving beyond a transaction-based relationship with customers/clients.
   2. Radical transparency will not feel so radical, it will be the norm.
   3. Higher value on the provenance of things, the story behind them.

About Ann Pettifor

Briefly describe your background, interests & areas of expertise?

My background is in macroeconomics. In 2010 I set up a network of mainly Keynesian economists with the following as its mission: “We consider that conventional or ‘mainstream’ economic theory has proved of almost no relevance to the ongoing and chronic failure of the global economy and to the gravest threat facing us all: climate change.”

What does circularity in the textiles industry mean to you?

Given that we have to move to a world based on ‘sufficiency’ not ‘efficiency’, circularity in the textiles industry will be vital if we are to end continuous consumption of scarce resources – and to ensure the population has access to the clothing necessary to human survival

What does your company/organisation do to bring about circularity (core relevant activities/commitments, highlight short and long term goals, if relevant).

My company undertakes high level economic advocacy aimed at key figures in government departments, but also public and private finance sectors, with the aim of bringing about the economic framework needed to sustain a liveable economy, which given the ecosystem’s finite assets, is a necessity for a circular economy.

What made your decision to join the CAP?

I have known Cyndi Rhoades for a long time, having met her way back at the New Economics Foundation when these ideas of circularity were regarded as marginal and frankly unrealisable. I wanted to support the extraordinary work she has done in establishing this company.

How important is this Circular Advisory Panel approach for preparing a company like WA for the market (i.e. a business starting out with the sole purpose of enabling circularity but entering the market in ‘linear times’)? What do you think it will bring to the company?

We are living in uncertain times, but also in a time when change and innovation is taking place at a faster rate than ever before. Companies that are deaf or blind to a) the macroeconomic environment and changes to that environment and b) fast-changing public and consumer opinion – are likely to face losses and failure. I believe the CAP can act as a sounding board and as a forum for alerting executives of possible threats, when the latter are busy at ‘the coal face’ of day-to-day company management. I was one of the few to warn of the Great Financial Crisis in my book: ‘The Coming First World Debt Crisis’ published in September 2006. In 2010 I warned of the flaws in economic policy that led to a decade of very weak economic growth, and a stunted recovery. When this morphed into the shock that was the Coronavirus pandemic, government and private sector companies were ill prepared, and faced tremendous losses. Societies and economies face future shocks, including future pandemics, as the Oxford Professor, Ian Goldin warned in his book: The Butterfly Defect, published in 2014. Company executives need to be alive to these threats and the opportunities they pose.

What do you believe the biggest hurdles/opportunities for transitioning to a new circular business mindset will be, for WA, for the industry?

The failure to be alive to changing consumer habits. Only today Greta Thunberg has announced she will not be buying new clothes.

Name 3 things you think businesses will be doing differently in a circular future.

1. Reversing focus on shareholder value
2. borrowing less and
3. employing more people.

About Harsha Vardhan

Briefly describe your background, interests & areas of expertise?

I have an educational background of Textile Technology and Environment Management and I have been working in the field of fashion for more than 20 years. The majority of these years were spent in the areas of Environment Sustainability (especially with circular materials, water and climate change).

What does circularity in the textiles industry mean to you?

The first goal towards circularity should be to achieve “zero waste economy” and eventually, our ambition should be to provide fashion to the world without using any virgin resource. That would be a true circular vision for the textile industry.

What does your company/organisation do to bring about circularity (core relevant activities/commitments, highlight short and long term goals, if relevant).

H&M Group is on a journey to become a truly circular company. We are working on multiple projects in this direction with several ambitious goals. You can read more about it here: https://hmgroup.com/sustainability/circular-and-climate-positive/

What made your decision to join the CAP?

This is a unique opportunity to interact, learn and collaborate with several global experts in the field of circularity. They all come with different perspectives and experience, which makes this platform both fun and meaningful. Apart from that, CAP also gives us an opportunity to practically implement some of our ideas through Worn Again’s business model.

How important is this Circular Advisory Panel approach for preparing a company like WA for the market (i.e. a business starting out with the sole purpose of enabling circularity but entering the market in ‘linear times’)? What do you think it will bring to the company?

WA can gain a lot from the experience shared within the CAP. The CAP members represent different parts of the Textile value chain and beyond. WA can test some of its business plans with these experts, in order to fine-tune its long-term business strategy.

What do you believe the biggest hurdles/opportunities for transitioning to a new circular business mindset will be, for WA, for the industry?

Feedstock, technology and commercial feasibility – these are the main hurdles, as well as opportunities. Whoever gets them right will be able to completely change the industry from a linear to a circular model.

Name 3 things you think businesses will be doing differently in a circular future.

1. Value waste as a resource at every level.
2. Engage customers in company’s circular journey
3. Embrace technology (especially recycling technology) more than ever before.

Worn Again Technologies is part of the Circular Fashion Ecosystem Advisory Board

The British Fashion Council (BFC)’s Institute of Positive Fashion (IPF) has announced the Advisory Board for its first project, the Circular Fashion Ecosystem (previously known as ‘The Waste Eco System Project). The Board is made up of nine industry experts: Alan Wheeler, Director, Textile Recycling Association; Claire Bergkamp, Chief Operating Officer, Textile Exchange; Cyndi Rhoades, Founder, Worn Again Technologies; Dax Lovegrove, Director of Sustainability, Jimmy Choo; Franz von Bismarck-Osten, Senior Director of Sector Development for the eRetail & Fashion Industry, DHL; Jalaj Hora, Vice President of Product Innovation and Consumer Creation, Nike; Judith Rosser-Davies, Head of Government Relations and Education, BFC; Shailja Dubé, IPF Programme Lead and Circular Fashion EcoSystem Project Lead, BFC and Sonia Thimmiah, Head of Sustainable Brands and Customer Partnership, Reckitt Benckise. The organisation also welcomed sustainability consultancy 3Keel who will work alongside Founding Partner Vanish, part of Reckitt Benckiser, and DHL to support the initial stages of the Circular Fashion Ecosystem. Launched in October 2020, the Circular Fashion Ecosystem (CFE) programme is the inaugural project of the IPF. Its aim is to focus on the creation of a circular fashion economy in the UK. The programme will work with industry, academia and government to inform and implement change. Collaboration across the industry is needed now more than ever. The CFE programme will help determine what a new ecosystem looks like, the responsibilities of each stakeholder, and what are the practical next steps needed to arrive at the key programme objectives:

• To accelerate industry-wide ability for textile recycling in the UK
• To make the UK a major fashion “revalue” centre within the global industry
• To influence consumer behaviour into adopting responsible consumption habits

This is a multi-year, multi stakeholder endeavour which will establish a roadmap for change to enable a circular UK fashion economy. As part of London Fashion Week February 2021 Presented by Clearpay, the BFC hosted a panel discussion on Tuesday 23^rd February in line with the start of the research phase in order to raise awareness of the programme. Hosted by Caroline Rush, BFC Chief Executive, the CFE Advisory Board will discuss the project to enable a call to action to welcome collaborators, including NGOs, brands, big business, government agencies and innovators. Listen to the talk panel: Circular Fashion Ecosystem Project, A Conversation The Circular Fashion Ecosystem consortium will be led by Oxford-based certified B-Corp 3Keel LLP, an award-winning firm of sustainability advisors with particular focus on product supply chains. Comprising six core practice areas, 3Keel’s mission is to work with others to create a better future for people and the environment, through ideas, evidence, and by bringing people together. They have considerable experience of delivering lasting change through working with businesses, policy makers, and non-profit organisations. To maximise impact, 3Keel purposefully pursues collaborative projects such as the recently launched BRC Climate Roadmap, their Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs) programme and the ground-breaking Podback scheme. The consortium will comprise four other partners, collectively combining expertise in circular business models and strategy, consumer trends, and behaviour change in the fashion and textiles sector.

• QSA Partners: a specialist team of circular economy and sustainable business experts with more than 30 years’ experience working with the fashion sector on resource efficiency including significant experience in circular textiles.
• Flourish CSR: a team of industry-leading corporate social responsibility specialists with deep fashion sector knowledge and the network to match.
• Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow: one of the world’s top 100 universities and home to leading researchers in the fields of consumer research, marketing and sustainable clothing consumption.
• Icaro: a leading consumer insights agency with expertise in market research and behaviour change who apply the latest insights from behavioural economics to help their clients understand their audience and design change strategies and interventions.

The consortium will be led by Dr Alex Hetherington, who heads up 3Keel’s Circular Economy Practice and has extensive expertise in partner engagement, stakeholder management, circular economy and LCA in addition to practical end-of-life solutions and circularity for difficult to recycle materials. About Institute of Positive Fashion The Institute of Positive Fashion (IPF) helps the British Fashion Industry lead in the goal to be more resilient and circular through global collaboration and local action. Leveraging global expertise and resources we will adopt standards, develop and establish frameworks, to reset and create a new blueprint for the industry. Through identifying common challenges, we will call for collective action and investment in innovation to make a difference.  We want to bring our industry in tune with the needs of the planet by taking an holistic approach across environment, people, community & craftsmanship. Established by the British Fashion Council, led by a steering committee of industry experts, supported by advisory groups comprising industry, government and academia.  For more information, please visit instituteofpositivefashion.com   About British Fashion Council Formed in 2019, the BFC Foundation brings all its charitable initiatives under one umbrella supporting the future growth and success of the British fashion industry by focusing on three areas: Education, Grant-Giving & Business Mentoring and the IPF. The BFC Foundation aims to improve equality and opportunity so that the fashion industry remains diverse and open to all, helping talented Strengthen British Fashion in the global fashion economy as a leader in responsible creative businesses. Empower and engage all within the British Fashion industry to play their part in positive growth. We will do this through championing diversity, building and inviting the industry to actively participate in a network to accelerate a successful circular fashion economy. For more information, please visit www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk

Leading fashion players implement circular systems in Bangladesh

Over 30 renowned fashion brands, manufacturers and recyclers are collaborating in a new initiative to capture and reuse textile waste in Bangladesh. Global Fashion Agenda today announced the participants of the Circular Fashion Partnership, including the global brands Bershka, Bestseller, C&A, Gina Tricot, Grey State, H&M Group, Kmart Australia, Marks & Spencer, OVS, Pull & Bear, Peak Performance and Target Australia. The Circular Fashion Partnership is a cross-sectorial project led by Global Fashion Agenda, with partners Reverse Resources, The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and P4G, that aims to achieve a long-term, scalable transition to a circular fashion system*. The partnership facilitates circular commercial collaborations between major fashion brands, textile and garment manufacturers, and recyclers to develop and implement new systems to capture and direct post-production fashion waste back into the production of new fashion products. In addition, the partnership seeks to find solutions for the COVID-19 related pile-up of deadstock and to engage regulators and investors around the current barriers and economic opportunities in the country. Participating brands, garment manufacturers and recyclers include:

• Brands: Bershka, Bestseller, C&A, Gina Tricot, Grey State, H&M Group, Kmart Australia, Marks & Spencer, OVS, Pull & Bear, Peak Performance and Target Australia
• Manufacturers: Amantex, Asrotex Group, Auko-tex Group, Aurum Sweaters, Beximco, Bitopi Group (Tarasima), Composite Knitting Industry Ltd., Crystal International Group Limited, Echotex, , Fakir Knitwear, GSM, J.M. Fabrics, Knit Asia, MAS Intimates, Ratul Group (Knitwear & Fabric), Salek Textiles, S. B Knite Composite (Sankura Dyeing and Garments) and the Northern Group
• Recyclers: Birla Cellulose, BlockTexx, Cyclo, Infinited Fiber Company, Malek Spinning Mills, Marchi & Fildi Spa, Lenzing AG, Recovertex, Renewcell, Saraz Fibre Tech, Usha Yarns Limited and Worn Again Technologies

The partnership is still welcoming new applicants; companies can get in touch here. Through collaboration among the participants, the partnership aims to build a successful business model for adopting more circular processes. It plans to facilitate a decrease in textile waste and increase the use of recycled fibres, distributing value throughout the fashion value cycle and generating economic benefits in Bangladesh by accelerating the fiber recycling market. The initiative is focusing on Bangladesh as it arguably possesses the most in-demand and recyclable waste of any garment producing country, but the majority of its waste is currently being exported and/or downcycled. Therefore, there is a substantial opportunity to make it a leader in circularity by scaling the recycling capacity in the country and generating more value from these waste streams. Following the hardships in the country generated by COVID-19, this approach also aims build industry resilience for the future. The business model and project learnings will be presented at the end of 2021 in a ‘Circularity Playbook for Bangladesh’, which will be used as a guide to replicate the partnership in other countries, such as Vietnam and Indonesia. Morten Lehmann, CSO, Global Fashion Agenda, says; “To establish a circular fashion system we need to reimagine the production process so that it appreciates the value of textile waste. It is encouraging to see so many prestigious companies sign up to the Circular Fashion Partnership and, with their help, I am confident that we can demonstrate a strong business model for circularity that can be mirrored by others in the future.” Miran Ali, Director, BGMEA, says; “Circular economy is not merely just a concept; it is the future! Fashion industry is historically following the linear model of business “take-make-dispose” but now we stand at such a critical juncture where we cannot afford to continue this linear model. Moreover, demand for circular apparel is increasing and brands are coming with pledges towards it, so as manufacturers we have to embrace it and align ourselves with the global trend. Bangladeshi factories typically produce larger volumes of the same item, meaning that waste is more standardized; therefore, Bangladesh can be a global leader in the area of circular economy. We believe CFP is a good platform to start the journey.” Ann Runnel, CEO, Reverse Resources, says; “Brands are making strong commitments and targets towards circularity however, there are not many scalable options for circulating and handling waste. In this project we turn our attention to practical solutions that many best recycling technologies face when sourcing textile waste and use traceability as a tool to help them lower costs and increase the quality of the waste they source. Post-production waste is currently the low hanging fruit for supporting this emerging recycling industry to start closing the loop at scale, whilst we prepare for the even greater challenge of circulating post-consumer waste.” Leila Yim Surratt, Director of Strategy and Engagement, P4G, says; “The Circular Fashion Partnership is an excellent example of how P4G’s dynamic network in Bangladesh and action-oriented global ecosystem can work together to deliver transformative impact in an industry that is critical to Bangladesh’s economic recovery. We look forward to unlocking the investment potential of this partnership and providing opportunities to share Bangladesh’s leadership with other P4G country partners like Vietnam and Indonesia.” *A Circular Fashion System keeps materials in the fashion value cycle by enabling the recycling and reuse of ‘waste’ textiles at scale. This system must replace the traditionally linear model of ‘take, make, dispose’ for a thriving industry that brings prosperity to people and restores our planet. Find out more about the Circular Fashion Partnership. About Global Fashion Agenda Global Fashion Agenda is the leading forum for industry collaboration and public-private cooperation on fashion sustainability. Our mission is to make sustainability fashion’s first priority, and to mobilise and guide the fashion industry to take bold and urgent action on sustainability. In partnership with our Strategic Partners, ASOS, BESTSELLER, H&M Group, Kering, Li & Fung, Nike, PVH Corp., Sustainable Apparel Coalition, and Target, our Strategic Knowledge Partner, McKinsey & Company, and our Strategic Communication Partner, Karla Otto, we spearhead the fashion industry’s journey towards a more sustainable future. A non-profit organisation, Global Fashion Agenda is behind yearly guidelines, reports, the leading business event on sustainability in fashion, Copenhagen Fashion Summit, the digital event CFS+ and the Innovation Forum – a curated platform that showcases solution providers. For more information, please visit www.globalfashionagenda.com

About Allanna McAspurn

Briefly describe your background, interests & areas of expertise?

I have a background in textile supply chains and my career in this area started in 2003. I was previously CEO of a European sustainability consultancy which focussed on both social and environmental sustainability within the fashion industry. During this time I led an award winning team that worked with over 100 brands and retailers on sustainability projects and strategy; we also developed industry tools which benchmarked sustainability performance. My academic life prior to working in sustainability, my wide business experience and deep knowledge of supply chains and processes, allow me to support leaders in testing the resilience of their sustainability strategies, engage them on pipeline issues that will be relevant for their business, and guide them through the cultural challenges that come with embedding new systems and ways of thinking.

What made your decision to join the CAP?

I have known Cyndi since the beginning of Worn Again, I believe in her vision and the potential of this technology to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of textile manufacturing. I also know how challenging it will be to make this as successful as it deserves to be, and the multi stakeholder support that Worn Again will require in order to pull this off. Worn Again has pulled together a diverse CAP and together I think we can help the team enormously, these factors inspired me to join.

What do you believe the biggest hurdles/opportunities for transitioning to a new circular business mindset will be, for WA, for the industry?

It requires a fully mobilised multi-stakeholder approach, pressure from governments and the evolution of companies and services that currently don’t exist, at least not at scale. Shifting to a circular economy is such a dramatic change from how we currently do business that large companies, even those who take a leadership stance on sustainability, will tinker around the edges for some time and the circular mindset will not be fully embedded until the roadmap for change is clearly laid out with the various actors in place and the incentives for large scale adaptation are evident. It’s clear that a circular economy of some kind will happen so the opportunity for business lies in the early engagement and being able to influence the path.

WCTD provides written evidence to UK Parliament’s Fixing Fashion follow up Inquiry

Following the launch of World Circular Textiles Day on 8th October 2020, the WCTD’s co-founders submitted evidence paper as part of the UK Parliament’s Fixing Fashion Follow Up Inquiry and which has been accepted by the Environmental Audit Committee. The Environmental Audit Committee will follow-up work on its 2018 inquiry, Fixing fashion: clothing consumption and sustainability. The Committee has chosen to revisit the issue to monitor progress due to continued concerns around the environmental impact of the fashion industry and working conditions in UK garment factories. The Government rejected most of the Committee’s recommendations in 2019, which ranged from a producer responsibility charge to pay for better clothing collection and recycling to requiring due diligence checks across fashion supply chains to root out forced or child labour. However, the Government has identified textile waste as a priority area to address its Resources and Waste Strategy. Fashion production has a considerable impact on climate and biodiversity. The global fashion industry is estimated to have produced around 2.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2018: the equivalent to the combined emissions of France, Germany and the UK. Fast fashion also creates a waste problem in the UK and developing countries. UK citizens buy more new clothes than any other European country and throw away over a million tonnes of clothing every year. While two thirds of clothing is either donated or collected for resale or low-quality recycling, around 336,000 tonnes are disposed of in household bins destined for landfill or incineration. The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on garment factories in Leicester. Reports of poor working conditions suggests there has been little improvement since the Committee’s report, which recommended regular audits and for companies to engage with unions for their workers. The Committee’s follow-up work will consist of gathering written evidence and a one-off oral evidence session. About Environmental Audit Committee The Committee’s remit is to consider the extent to which the policies and programmes of government departments and non-departmental public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development, and to audit their performance against sustainable development and environmental protection targets. About World Circular Textiles Day WCTD which will take place every year on 8th October, was launched in 2020 to celebrate the efforts of a growing community of companies, organisations and individuals actively working towards a circular textiles’ future. Its main aim is to record the progress and chart the momentum of circularity in textiles. For more information, please visit www.worldcirculartextilesday.com

About Faith LeGendre

Briefly describe your background, interests & areas of expertise:

Wide range interest and experience thinker. Ability to keep track of ever-changing interconnecting parts for the benefit of people, planet, and prosperity for all. Accomplished Strategist with 15+ years of experience with 200+ organizations worldwide via innovative and pioneering business approaches that drive results. Drove successful Circular Economy initiatives within Consumer-Packaged Goods, Fashion, and other industries. Authored vastly-downloaded (over 250), Circular Economy publication. Highly sought-after knowledge speaker with Industry Speaking Engagements globally. Exceptional ability to build/manage key partnerships.

What does circularity in the textiles industry mean to you?

Designing textiles for circularity from the get go. Taking back after the manufacturer or customer no longer has a need and keeping those valuable resources in use in the interconnected loops.

What does your company/organisation do to bring about circularity (core relevant activities/commitments, highlight short and long term goals, if relevant).

N/A freelance consultant

What made your decision to join the CAP?

I was very impressed with Cyndi’s presentation at Launch.org back in 2018. This is the tech, plan, and scale that’s needed to create real change within the textile industry.

How important is this Circular Advisory Panel approach for preparing a company like WA for the market (i.e., a business starting out with the sole purpose of enabling circularity but entering the market in ‘linear times’)? What do you think it will bring to the company?

I feel the CAP will bring years of experience, diverse expertise, different ways to look at the problems, a valuable expanded network, and real hands-on strategy work that nets results for WA.

What do you believe the biggest hurdles/opportunities for transitioning to a new circular business mindset will be, for WA, for the industry?

Engaging the manufacturers and customers in an easy way to give back the textiles and creating lines that will utilize the circular textiles 100%.

Name 3 things you think businesses will be doing differently in a circular future.

Designing for circularity, finding unlikely partners in unlikely places to interconnect the loops.

About Wayne Hubbard

Briefly describe your background, interests & areas of expertise?

I have a background in waste and resource management, and latterly have become passionate about accelerating the development of a circular economy in London. I have worked for a variety of local government bodies including the Greater London Authority where I headed up the waste policy team, before joining the London Waste and Recycling Board in 2010– which has now become ReLondon.

What does circularity in the textiles industry mean to you?

I’m primarily interested in reducing the volume of clothing in circulation, as industry statistics suggest that there are currently at least 80 billion items of clothing in circulation globally – enough to clothe us all several times over. The climate impact that clothing production and consumption has is huge, and could be tackled by more circular approaches like sharing, renting and repairing. And for those times when we actually need to buy new clothes, we need to develop a fully recyclable way of making them so we can use the fibre in today’s clothes to make tomorrow’s.

What does your company/organisation do to bring about circularity (core relevant activities/commitments, highlight short and long term goals, if relevant).

ReLondon’s Business Plan highlights the circular economy as a key tool to address the climate emergency and particularly its role in reducing consumption-based emissions. Our mission is to make London a global leader in sustainable ways to live, work and prosper by revolutionising our relationship with stuff and helping London waste less and reuse, repair, share and recycle more. A city like London has a far bigger carbon impact than just its territorial emissions would suggest: we could all reduce our energy use, swap in sustainable sources, and cut back our transport-related emissions significantly, but that would still leave the emissions associated with the food, textiles, plastics, electricals and other materials such as metals and concrete that we use (and throw away) every day. So ReLondon works with businesses, citizens and local government in the capital to find achievable ways of reducing our consumption of raw materials and build circularity and resource efficiency into everything we make, buy and use. Our programmes aim to save 126,000 tonnes of CO2e a year by 2025 and contribute 15% of the additional recycling needed to be on track for London’s recycling target of 65% by 2030. Overhauling the way we think about and manage waste has the potential to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by almost 3.5 million tonnes a year in 2050.

What made your decision to join the CAP?

Fashion and textiles make a sizeable contribution to London’s total consumption and are a significant proportion of the waste that Londoners create – we can’t create a circular economy without creating a circular textiles industry. The Circular Advisory Panel is an excellent way of creating momentum through collaboration – so I wanted to be a part of it, to see where we can help mobilise change and collaborate most effectively in a city context.

How important is this Circular Advisory Panel approach for preparing a company like WA for the market (i.e. a business starting out with the sole purpose of enabling circularity but entering the market in ‘linear times’)? What do you think it will bring to the company?

See answer above! I hope that I can bring some insight from a city perspective – which is where the majority of global consumption takes place. I think the panel more widely will keep everyone’s ‘eyes on the prize’ and keep circularity in our sights alongside commercial viability.

What do you believe the biggest hurdles/opportunities for transitioning to a new circular business mindset will be, for WA, for the industry?

I think that there is an awful lot of goodwill in the minds of citizens – but we somehow need to convert that into action in partnership with business and government to create the conditions for system change. Awareness of the impact of fashion on the planet is at an all-time high, but so far we’ve seen many brands tinkering around the edges, experimenting with small-scale pilots or introducing schemes which pay lip service to environmental concerns; the challenge now is to make change on a scale that will genuinely reduce the industry’s contribution to the climate emergency.

Name 3 things you think businesses will be doing differently in a circular future.

Recycling, sharing and repairing more.

We strongly believe collaboration is at the core of enabling circular economy and we are delighted to join as founding partner another valuable initiative which brings together leading circular partners across textile and apparel industry. Eon has launched Global Partner Network which will unlock the fashion industry’s vision of a circular economy at scale by enabling brands and retailers to manage, direct and track the flow of garments across the value chain by connecting with those products using Eon’s Internet of Things platform. Eon’s Internet of Things platform powered by Microsoft Azure transforms the concept of a “Digital Passport” for physical products into viable reality by using the CircularIDTM Protocol and creating a digital system of record for products across their lifecycle, giving brands unprecedented visibility into the journey and value of their products over time plus a transformational system for tracking and communicating with those products. The Eon Partner Network will enable brands digitizing products on the Eon platform to provide participating circular business partners with instant access to connected product data crucial for enacting circular processes like re-commerce and recycling. With Partner Accounts on the Eon Platform and accompanying devices for product scanning (RFID, NFC, QR code), these network partners will have the ability to immediately digitally identify and authenticate products that are connected on the platform and to drive their circular practices by accessing deep beyond-the-label data such as original sale price, images, key features and material content. Joining as founding partners, together with us, this industry’s first Global Partner Network are other leading circular businesses: The Renewal Workshop, Trove, Reflaunt, Lenzing, Hallotex, Recurate, Optoro, Evrnu, Save Your Wardrobe along with Salvation Army Trading Company and Waste Management. Additionally, network partners will have the ability to contribute to the ongoing enrichment of products’ digital passports by tying metadata to product lifecycle events (location, resale price and channel etc.), creating a continuous picture of a garment’s value in real-time and powering the re-monetization of a single product across multiple lifecycles. “Making a circular system economically and operationally viable for the fashion industry hinges on the brands’ ability to communicate with their circular business partners about their products – and to connect, track and manage the products themselves. Eon’s Internet of Things platform delivers the enabling technology brands need to connect their products. Now, the Eon Partner Network unlocks the communication about those products between brands and their circular business partners – powering fully functional circular systems and enabling both brands and partners to capitalize on the ongoing value of their products and materials far beyond the first point of sale.” – Natasha Franck, Eon Founder & CEO The Eon Partner Network makes the promise of a digital system of connected products viable at scale using a functional language for communication and exchange of data between products digitized via the Eon platform. For more information, please visit Eon Global Partner Network    About EON Eon is the leading Internet of Things (IoT) platform powering Connected Products across fashion, apparel and retail. Eon powers product digitization to bring end-to-end intelligence and connectivity to the product lifecycle – laying the foundation for circular business. Eon’s mission is to power our circular commerce. For more information, please visit www.eongroup.co