At its core, circular fashion and the circular fashion economy aim to reduce the amount of waste created by the industry, as well as encourage reuse, recycling and the use of regenerative and sustainable materials. A circular textiles system addresses this wasteful use of resources and adverse impacts by innovating textile design, adopting new technologies and renewable materials, increasing the reuse and recycling of old garments, and by eliminating waste and pollution.
While some countries have high collection rates for reuse and recycling, much of this collected material is exported to countries with little to no collection infrastructure of their own, which only marginally increases clothing utilization, and does not provide a long-term solution. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation “more than USD 500 billion of value is lost every year due to clothing underutilization and lack of recycling” with material disposal alone representing a value loss of more than USD 100 billion each year.
