Döngüselliğin uygulamaya geçirilmesi: Kuruluşlar, Birleşik Krallık’taki döngüsel moda endüstrisini nasıl ilerletiyor?

Two clothing-stuffed stock trolleys outside a charity shop have a sign taped to them - '1 to fill a bag.

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It's a powerful reminder of just how much overproduction the global fashion industry is responsible for. Even resale points like charity shops, part of the circular model that aims to keep items in use and reduce waste, are drowning under the weight of unwanted textiles. They're almost giving them away and they can't get rid of them.

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If consumers can't soak up all this excess, then something else needs to be done with it.

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The Fashion Industry Is Positive About Circularity'

Döngüsel moda modeli kavramı, sektör tarafından giderek daha fazla destek görmektedir. Nitekim, Döngüsel Moda İnovasyon Ağı’nın (CFIN) ara raporuna göre, Birleşik Krallık’taki marka ve perakendecilerin %81’i, beş yıllık stratejilerinin bir parçası olarak döngüselliği dahil etmiştir.

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2023 yılında kurulan CFIN, Birleşik Krallık’ı 2032 yılına kadar döngüsel bir moda ekosistemine doğru hızla ilerletmek amacıyla oluşturuldu. Bu girişim, İngiliz Moda Konseyi (BFC) ve önde gelen ticaret birliği UK Fashion and Textile (UKFT) tarafından, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) ile ortaklaşa yürütülmektedir.

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Raporda ayrıca, bu kuruluşların %66’sının halihazırda en az bir döngüsel ekonomi girişimini hayata geçirdiği ortaya çıktı.

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Interestingly, circular product design was the most widely adopted or considered initiative (80%). But although the CFIN report highlights the importance of circular product design, it doesn't define this as a circular business model.'

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It's a critical component in enabling these models, which include reuse, repair and takebacks, and something that brands should be doing. But it doesn't move the needle on a circular fashion industry on its own.'

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Circular design also creates future benefit ' textiles that are easier to resell, reuse or recycle in the future ' without addressing the existing problem of excess textiles or overproduction in general.

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Markalar, bu alanda kendi başlarına değişiklikler yapma kapasitesine sahip olduklarını düşündükleri için, döngüsel ürün tasarımını diğer faaliyetlere kıyasla daha hızlı benimsiyor olabilirler. Oysa moda endüstrisi için daha kapsamlı bir döngüsel modelin hayata geçirilmesi, açıkça işbirliğini gerektiriyor.

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It's here that we see organisations across the UK fashion industry stepping up.

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İşbirliği, İnovasyonu Teşvik Etmek İçin Hayati Önem Taşır

One example is collaborative circularity project, Repurpose. Launched by circularity platform Recomme, ACS Clothing ' a clothing rental and renewal company ' and the UKFT, Repurpose is a circularity processing and innovation hub.

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Brands and retailers can send unwanted textiles ' including returns that can't be resold and those donated by customers ' as well as damaged items to Repurpose's facility to be assessed. Repurpose then determines the best circular option for each item. This might be repair, resale, rental, or even textile-to-textile recycling in partnership with innovators in this field.

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What's particularly interesting about the Repurpose initiative is its plans to drive innovation. This includes investing in textile recycling start-ups and running commercial pilots for their tech.

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Recomme's white labelled circularity offering to retailers helps to direct unwanted textiles into Repurpose's hub, giving it the volume needed to help improve and develop new textile recycling innovations. This includes scaling them over time and overcoming challenges in sorting and processing multi-material garments.

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Stats from WRAP show that there's a long way to go before material recycling becomes the norm. In 2022 the UK generated 1.45 million tonnes of used textiles. Of the 650 kilotonnes that were diverted from landfill and waste, only 34 kilotonnes were actually recycled in the UK.

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According to the Circle Economy Foundation, of all the materials the global textile industry uses, just 0.3% come from recycled sources. What's also telling is that most of this comes from recycled PET bottles rather than recycled textiles.

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Tekstilden Tekstile Geri Dönüşüm Giderek Yaygınlaşmaya Başlıyor

Essentially, the global fashion industry isn't currently turning unwanted textiles into new ones.'

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But it can be done even if it isn't happening at mass scale yet. And interestingly, given the small percentage use of recycled PET bottles in textile production, repurposing innovation from another sector is one way to do it.

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Project Re:claim ' a joint venture between recycling innovators Project Plan B and Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCoL) ' recycles polyester textiles back into raw material on a commercial scale.

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Project Plan B tarafından geliştirilen sistem, plastik şişe geri dönüşümünde kullanılan teknolojiye dayanmaktadır. Bu sistem, polyester giysileri, diğer şeylerin yanı sıra daha fazla iplik üretmek için kullanılabilen rPET peletlerine dönüştürebilmektedir.

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In January last year, Project Re:claim machinery was installed at a SATCoL processing centre in Kettering, Northamptonshire, which already processes around 65,000 tonnes of textiles yearly.'

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Reportedly the first commercial-scale, post-consumer polyester recycling plant of its kind, Project Re:claim's tech is located at the same site as Fibersort, the UK's only automated textile sorting facility. This, coupled with the fact that SATCoL is the largest charity-owned textiles collector in the UK, means that Project Re:claim is in a strong position in terms of bringing in enough unwanted polyester to feed its closed loop system.

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Ancak hammadde, doğru tekstil ürünlerinin düzenli olarak temin edilmesinden kirlenme sorunlarına kadar, tekstilden tekstile geri dönüşüm alanındaki yenilikler için temel bir zorluktur.

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Changing an Entire Industry Isn't an Individual Task'

En önemli fırsatlardan biri, tüketicilerin artık tekstil ürünlerini nasıl değerlendirdiklerini değiştirmelerini sağlamaktır. WRAP’a göre, Birleşik Krallık’taki tüm kullanılmış tekstil ürünlerinin neredeyse %50’si evsel atıklarla birlikte atılmaktadır. Bu ürünler daha sonra ya yakılarak imha ediliyor ya da çöp depolama alanlarına gönderiliyor; oysa bunun yerine tekstilden tekstile geri dönüşüm programlarında kullanılabilirler.

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Some consumers may be throwing out their old clothes because they don't care what happens to them. But some may simply feel stuck on what to do with clothes that aren't in a good enough condition to donate or resell.

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Greater visibility of ' and access to ' retailer takeback schemes is one way that the fashion industry could shift consumers towards dropping off clothes they don't want or need rather than discarding them.'

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However, CFIN's survey revealed that takeback schemes have the lowest current adoption among retailers compared to other circular activities, and the lowest planned increase in the next few years (30%).

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Perakendeciler, bu geri alım programlarının yürütülmesiyle ilgili gereken çaba, maliyet ve zaman nedeniyle bu programlardan kaçınıyor olabilir. Ancak yasalar, perakendecileri yine de bu programları sunmaya zorlayabilir.

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The EU has just reached a provisional agreement to establish extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes for the textiles industry. Textile producers who sell in an EU country ' regardless of where the producer itself is based globally ' will have to cover the costs of collecting, sorting and recycling the textiles they make.

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Bu sorunu çözmenin bir yolu, farklı döngüsel faaliyetler için ayrı ayrı ortaklar belirlemek ve her bir giysi parçası için en uygun seçenekleri değerlendirmek yerine, tek elden çözüm sunan Repurpose ve Project Re:claim gibi kuruluşlarla iş birliği yapmaktır.

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But there's another way these organisations can help support brands in moving to a circular model ' supporting the circular design so many are investing in to make it easier and cheaper to recycle the clothes they have to collect.

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This is exactly what Project Re:claim has done with school uniform producer David Luke. They have launched a circular school blazar that has been designed to be fully recyclable via Project Re:claim.'

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Previously, David Luke's Eco-uniform range used polyester from recycled plastic bottles but wasn't designed in a way to be easily recyclable again. Working with Project Re:claim, every aspect of the circular blazer has been re-designed so that the entire garment can be recycled in one piece at Project Re:claim's plant. This includes the buttons and zips.

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While the UK may be well positioned to lead the way in circular fashion, it's clear that changing an entire industry isn't an individual task. Which is why it's so encouraging to see major organisations and trade associations helping to lead the way and champion innovation.

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Project Re:claim and David Luke's circular blazer is considered so innovative that one was featured in a display on 'Tomorrow's Wardrobe' at London's Design Museum. But in the future, it could become the norm.