Germany is the biggest producer of textile waste in Europe. Launched in 2021 during the Berlin Fashion Week, open-source online platform A-GAIN GUIDE paves the way for consumers and their clothing to be repaired, reused, upcycled and recycled, revealing the potential of used clothes to reduce the CO2 emissions just by prolonging the lifespan of garments.

According to Greenpeace 'Wegwerfware Kleidung' (Disposable Clothing) report published in 2015, we, on average, only wear 60% of all the clothes we own, and according to British charity Barnado's, each item of clothing is only worn seven times.

This, in combination with the trend of fast fashion and overconsumption, create issue of textile waste and the associated negative impact on the environment.

As the biggest producer of textile waste in Europe, Germany also need to find innovative solutions.

During the Berlin Fashion Week in September 2021, a new project called the A-GAIN GUIDE was launched. ​​The project is funded by the Berlin Senate Departments for the Environment, Transport & Climate Protection and for Economics, Energy and Operations as part of the Berlin Energy and Climate Protection Program 2030 (BEK), and implemented by Circular Berlin in cooperation with LoopLook.

The project is aimed to promote the use and reuse of local resources, strengthens local networks and infrastructures, and gives reuse actors the visibility they deserve.

This is done by creating a platform where users can find all the textile recycling stakeholders in Berlin on the MAP function, as wel as shoemakers, alteration tailors, used clothing containers, second-hand stores, designers and other initiatives.

In addition, through the GUIDE function, the platform also shows creative and efficient ways to repair, pass on, upcycle and recycle their used clothing.

The A-GAIN GUIDE is available as an open course tool to be implemented in other European cities as well.

A-GAIN GUIDE paves the way for consumers and their clothing to be repaired, reused, upcycled and recycled in Berlin, thereby revealing the potential of used clothes to reduce the CO2 emissions just by prolonging the lifespan of garments.

It also strengthens local networks and as well as infrastructures and gives greater visibility to the actors of recycling.

The database linked to the A-GAIN GUIDE also enables efficient evaluation of textile re-use and recycling processes and the expansion of cooperative infrastructures within Berlin.

In 2022, the platform added an automated question catalog to their GUIDE function that makes individual suggestions for the further use of used clothing.

Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash