To drive the textile industry’s transformation, there’s an urgent need to adopt circular systems that break away from finite resource consumption. A significant volume of post-industrial textile waste from garment manufacturing facilities is currently overlooked, leading to environmental and economic losses. Estimates say that up to 47% of all fibre entering the fashion value chain becomes waste throughout the myriad of different stages of production, from fibre, yarn, fabric up to a garment.
This three-year partnership, called Global Circular Fashion Forum, is run by Global Fashion Agenda in collaboration with GIZ, Circle Economy, Closed Loop Fashion, Reverse Resources and local stakeholders, and funded by H&M Foundation. The overarching vision is to spearhead a long-term, scalable and just transition towards a fully circular fashion industry.
Up to 47% of all fibre entering the fashion value chain becomes waste.
Two levers
The programme consists of two components, on global and national levels:
- Global Circular Fashion Forum (GCFF) – Engaging brands, manufacturers, recyclers, and waste handlers to streamline efforts and capture synergies through forums and shared knowledge.
- National Circular Fashion Partnerships (NCFP) – Local multi-stakeholder platforms to address barriers to scale post-industrial recycling and ensure waste doesn’t end up in landfills.
Key objectives
- Mobilising the industry to commit to producing and using recycled materials with lower carbon impact.
- Facilitating knowledge exchange across countries and regions, with the development of supportive publications and tools.
- Enabling the realisation of locally owned and led National Circular Fashion Partnerships in manufacturing countries, fostering multistakeholder efforts to establish and scale effective national infrastructures for post-industrial textile waste recycling.
