循环经济在实践中：各类组织如何推动英国时尚产业向循环经济转型

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'

循环时尚模式这一理念正获得业界越来越多的支持。事实上，根据“循环时尚创新网络”（CFIN）发布的一份中期报告，81%的英国品牌和零售商已将循环经济纳入其五年战略。

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CFIN成立于2023年，其成立宗旨是推动英国在2032年前建立起循环时尚生态系统。该组织由英国时装协会（BFC）和领先的行业协会英国时尚与纺织协会（UKFT）牵头，并与英国研究与创新署（UKRI）合作开展工作。

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该报告还发现，其中66%的组织已经实施了至少一项循环经济举措。

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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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品牌之所以比其他领域更迅速地采用循环产品设计，可能是因为它们认为自己有能力在该领域独立推进变革。而要为时尚行业实施一种更全面的循环模式，显然需要各方通力合作。

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

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协作对推动创新至关重要

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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纺织品到纺织品的回收正开始扩大规模

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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该系统由“Plan B 项目”开发，其技术基于塑料瓶回收领域所采用的技术。它能够将聚酯纤维服装转化为 rPET 颗粒，这些颗粒可用于生产更多纱线，以及其他用途。

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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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但原料是“纺织品到纺织品”回收创新面临的一大挑战，从能否稳定获得合适的纺织品，到污染问题，都存在诸多困难。

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Changing an Entire Industry Isn't an Individual Task'

一个重要的机遇在于引导消费者改变对废旧纺织品的处理方式。据WRAP统计，英国近50%的废旧纺织品被作为生活垃圾处理。这些物品最终要么被焚烧，要么被填埋，但其实完全可以用于“纺织品转纺织品”的回收计划。

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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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零售商可能因为实施回收计划所需的精力、成本和时间而避之不及。但相关立法可能即将强制要求零售商提供此类服务。

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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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解决这一问题的途径之一，是与Repurpose和Project Re:claim等机构合作，它们提供一站式解决方案，而无需为不同的循环利用活动分别寻找合作伙伴，也无需针对每件服装评估最佳方案。

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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.