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This collection has been built by a community of passionate researchers, students, and industry professionals as part of <a href="https://worldcirculartextilesday.com/" target="_blank">World Circular Textiles Day</a> (WCTD). 


World Circular Textiles Day takes place every year on 8th October.  Our vision is to galvanise the collective ambitions and goals of people, organisations and businesses to reach a fully circular textiles world by 2050. Our mission is to provide a framework for circularity stakeholders to develop and deliver a collaborative, evolving roadmap and to chart circularity’s momentum annually from the 8th of October until 2050.

What does fully circular by 2050 mean?
- Shared textile resources, in the form of products and raw materials, are kept in **continual circulation**.
- Virgin resources are **replaced with circular materials**.
- Dignity, equity, and equality for the **people** involved in all parts of the circular value chain.

We need to know where we stand today to chart how to get to 100% Circularity by 2050. What circular activity is currently happening in the textiles and apparel industry, and where in the world is it happening? The WCTD Collection aims to answer this question by building the world’s largest digital library of circular textiles case studies. 

World Circular Textiles Day is proud to be supported by our 2022-23 Circular Hero Partners:
[Lenzing](https://www.lenzing.com/), [Texaid](https://retailsolutions.texaid.com/), [Bank & Vogue](https://www.bankvogue.com/), [Usha yarns limited](https://ushayarns.com/), [The Conduit](https://www.theconduit.com/), and [Asia Pacific Rayon](https://www.aprayon.com/en/)

## Want to contribute to the WCTD Collection? Sign up and add your circular textiles activities.





World Circular Textiles Day

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Article / Report

Impact on the availability of resources as well as their effect on living organisms, ecosystems, and components of the environment.

Ecological Impact

Impacts on the financial condition of a company, as well as the the economicconditions of its stakeholders and on economic systems at local, national, andglobal levels.

Economic Impact

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

Efficiency gains on operations or transactions either through cultural or technological shifts

Productivity

Impact on the ease of innovation, and facilitating uptake of innovations

Innovation

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

Reduced use of virgin materials and/or an increase of the use of secondary and bio-based materials

Reduce Material Consumption (SDG12)

Minimise waste through diversion: Instead of sending waste to landfill, it is redirected into other industrial processes for handling, treatment, recycling, recovery, or reuse in various forms. 

Minimise waste through design: At the outset of a process of project, plan and design such that there is zero waste or minimal waste during production, use, and at end of life. 

Minimise Waste (SDG12)

Reduced use and withdrawal of water and rate of recycling and reuse of water

Save Water (SDG6)

Reduced use of fossil fuel energy sources and/or increased use of renewable energy

Reduce Energy Consumption

Contributing to the improvement of biodiversity including species diversity, total number of protected species, and ecosystem health

Biodiversity

Producing and providing business and consumer goods and services

Goods and Services

Producing textile and leather products and processing them into apparel and accessories

Fashion and Textiles

Ensure renewable, reusable, non-toxic resources are utilised as materials and energy in an efficient way

Prioritise regenerative resources

While resources are in-use, maintain, repair and upgrade them to maximise their lifetime and give them a second life through take back strategies when applicable

Stretch the lifetime

Utilise waste streams as a source of secondary resources and recover waste for reuse and recycling

Use waste as a resource

Account for the systems perspective during the design process, to use the right materials, to design for appropriate lifetime and to design for extended future use

Design for the future

Use digital, online platforms and technologies that provide insights to track and optimise resource use, strengthen connections between supply chain actors, and enable the implementation of circular models



Incorporate digital technology

Utilise bio-based, reusable, non-toxic and non-critical materials

Regenerative materials

Give products and parts another life after their end-of-use

Maximise lifetime of products after use

Designing to enable multiple uses and lifecycles of a product and its materials

Design for cyclability

Employ online platforms to connect and improve information sharing between stakeholders

Digital platforms

Using materials that can be easily reused or recycled after use

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs

Marketplaces or services that enable the second hand sale of products

Second-hand sale, distribution

Designing products to be reused for the same or different purposes in multiple lifecycles

Design for reuse

Developing or utilising online platforms to enable circular economy opportunities through information, product or service offering

Online platforms

Developing or utilising online marketplaces to enable the peer-to-peer exchange of products and services

Peer-to-peer online marketplaces

'Inform' increases the overall levels of awareness and builds the necessary skills and knowledge around the circular economy to foster long-term change.

Inform

Information campaigns

VISION:
Raw materials are renewable, recyclable and safe, kept in continual circulation.

DETAIL:
Imagine a time when…the raw materials that are used to make things are sourced from existing products and regenerative agriculture, via carbon negative and climate neutral processes. Biodegradable raw materials are used for products with biodegradable end routes. Toxic chemicals have been washed out of the global materials pool, disposed of safely and replaced with beneficial alternatives. Virgin fibres made from fossil fuels have been banned, while secondary synthetic fibres, derived from what was already in the system, are kept in constant circulation as a resource. Circularity accounting methods, built on science-based metrics, help to manage a balanced system of resources, across all industries, and in line with the planet’s environmental limits.

Raw Materials and Planetary Boundaries

VISION:
Products and services are designed for multiple use and material value retention, with maximum positive impact.

DETAIL: 
Imagine a time when…products flow via optimal collection and distribution streams into reusable and repairable product platforms. Reuse and access models are dominant, and products are designed for multiple recirculation before biodegrading (if designed to do so), or being broken down into reusable raw materials for production. People only consume what they need. Production and consumption wastes have been fully eliminated and multifunctional, season-less and timeless fashions are the norm, yet still fulfil our human need for expression and creativity without constraint. All business models, organisations, governments and citizens play a role in maintaining a healthy, functioning circular ecosystem.

Products and Services

VISION:
People are valued and supported in an equitable, socially just and resilient society.

DETAIL:
Imagine a time when…people and communities are at the heart of any sustainable and circular system. The planet thrives, enabling us to survive with balance and abundance. People are no longer passive consumers, but proactive participants. The ‘makers’ who design, build, reprocess and recirculate products throughout the value chain are treated equally and are equitable partners in shaping and benefitting from the system. Textiles/garments can be produced and repurposed locally as well as centrally. A blend of craft methods alongside more automated production provides regionalised, multi-faceted perspectives and fulfilling livelihoods, be they high- or low-tech. Wealth gaps are minimised and dignity, equity, equality is a reality for all.

People and Society

Slow strategies aim to keep materials in use for as long as possible, for example through design for durability and repairability. A more circular economy is also a slower one: materials, components, and products—and even buildings and infrastructure—that we lock in stocks are made to last. This will lower material demand in the long run, in essence also serving to narrow resource flows.

Slow

Regenerate strategies phase out hazardous or toxic materials and processes and substitute them with regenerative biomass resources. A circular economy aims to mimic natural cycles—by shifting to more regenerative farming practices, for example—while also maximising the share of circular biomass that enters the economy. Regeneration can happen both at the systems level (by designing regenerative processes) as well as at the product level (by switching synthetic to organic fertilisers, for example).

Regenerate

Cycle strategies aim to cycle and reuse materials at their highest value: they maximise the volume of secondary materials re-entering the economy, ultimately minimising the need for virgin material inputs and therefore also narrowing flows. Of course, virgin materials will always be needed to a degree: all materials degrade and can’t be cycled infinitely, use energy, and require blending with virgin materials to maintain strength and functionality.

Cycle

Impacts

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Industries

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A framework of policy instruments that enabled and encourage the transition to the circular economy

Policy Instruments

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A framework of policy instruments that enable and stimulate the transition to the circular economy

The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

It is 2050.  Full systems change has taken place. This wouldn’t have been possible without the immediate action and radical steps taken from 2020 onwards. Many targets had to be identified in the early 2020s and achieved by 2030 to ensure that the 2050 goal happened in full. A sense of urgency, turbo stakeholder collaboration, supportive government regulation and clear, data driven targets enabled the mindsets and systems change needed to transform to a fully circular textiles ecosystem.

A circular economics model underpins what we have created. It reflects and supports a living organism made up of makers, users and restorers, interacting across vibrant and interconnected networks. Checks and balances, alongside transparency and accountability, ensure a healthy system. Financial, environmental, and social metrics have the purpose of serving communities and the planet. There is shared ownership of profit and loss – across all three metrics – throughout the value chain.

This is what we’ve achieved over the last 30 years:

WCTD Themes

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Based on the work of [Bocken et al. (2016)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699661_Product_design_and_business_model_strategies_for_a_circular_economy), the Four Flows Framework serves as a simple framework for managing resource flows in a circular economy by using less (Narrow), using for longer (Slow), using again (Cycle), and using clean, regenerative materials and energy (Regenerate).

These different principles of circular economy can be applied to our socioeconomic metabolism: we can design stocks like buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles to be rich resource mines for the future, and design manufactured goods and consumables to be cycled and made regenerative. Furthermore, the focus must also centre on getting more value out of fewer materials. Achieving the aims of a circular economy—minimising material use, regenerating the Earth, and preventing material losses—can be done through these four key strategies mentioned above.

Source: Circle Economy. (2023). *[The circularity gap report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023)* (p.22). Amsterdam: Circle Economy. 

Four Flows Framework

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 Anusha Alamgir would spend at least a day every fortnight in the dingy back alley markets of Dhaka, browsing through piles of secondhand clothing and lugging massive bags of used tops, skirts, and dresses in rickshaws. Onlookers would often stare at her continuously, perhaps wondering what she did with hundreds of items of castoff clothing that are shipped here from countries like Italy and Japan. Alamgir sold these clothes through her Instagram thrift store, Colors Dhaka, which has more than 5,500 followers. (The thrift store is currently on pause as Alamgir is studying in the U.K.) Colors Dhaka was launched in October 2019 as a way for Alamgir to raise money for her book publishing business. What began as her selling items from her own wardrobe eventually turned into a profitable venture, earning between $200 and $2,100 each month, depending on how frequently she posted. A few years ago, running a successful thrift store would have been unthinkable, as buying used clothes was seen in a negative light across most of South Asia. “This notion of being middle class or wearing other people’s clothing is seen as something that’s so taboo and so looked down upon,” Alamgir told Rest of World. But Instagram, with its aesthetic visuals, low-entry barriers, and growth potential, has flipped this belief on its head. Across Asia, the changing attitudes of Gen Z and millennials have propelled the boom of the secondhand clothing market. Customers see used clothes as a cheaper and environmentally sustainable alternative. Numerous Instagram-based thrift stores have emerged across India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal over the last three years, making the concept of secondhand fashion popular – even desirable – among young shoppers. These thrift stores have become a lucrative business for many young entrepreneurs. One Indian thrift store owner told Rest of World that if a dress sells for 850 rupees (around $10), including shipping, the profit margin could be as much as 500 (around $6) rupees. Shah Mehsan Hafiz, a 26-year-old doctor from Dhaka who shops from Colors Dhaka regularly, said there is an individuality aspect of shopping thrift, since each product is one-of-a-kind. “[Alamgir] would include small notes telling me how to style and thanking me. She packages everything in eco-friendly parcels and sends them over on very short notice, conveniently. I love everything I got from her. I can’t say the same about my local retailers, sadly,” Hafiz told Rest of World.        Shah Mehsan Hafiz, a 26-year-old doctor, models clothing bought from Colors Dhaka. Shah Mehsan Hafiz   The popularity of these Instagram thrift stores is growing so rapidly that Silvina Pradhan, who runs Dohoran Nepal, which has more than 8,500 followers and is one of the most popular thrifting pages in the Himalayan country, has upgraded her operations from her bedroom to a spare space in her parent’s home, where she plans to have a warehouse and a studio. She hopes to expand her business inventory capacity from 500 to over 5,000 pieces of Western clothing and vintage saris, all sourced from secondhand items discarded by local Nepalis. Pradhan now employs a  team of two part-time workers, one responsible for bookkeeping and dealing with buyers and sellers, while the other takes care of content planning and creation. “People in Nepal are still reluctant to shop through a website; they find the means of social media easier to buy and sell their products,” Pradhan told Rest of World. Although her team is building a website for Dohoran Nepal, she said the company will continue to focus on Instagram-based selling. With the addition of short-form Reel videos on the platform, demands from customers have turned page creators into influencers. Delhi-based Yashna Malik and Ishita Bajaj, who run Revival Pile, an account with over 15,800 followers that sources from local factory and export rejects, sometimes offer styling tips via Reels and Guides. The two law school students with an interest in fashion developed Revival Pile during the Covid-19 lockdown, and now generate enough money to become financially independent. Malik and Bajaj say they prefer Instagram to platforms like Poshmark because the social media network offers them a personal connection to customers.        The Revival Pile account frequently posts short-form videos to its 15,800 followers on the platform. @revival_pile   “It’s not just a client-customer relationship,” Bajaj told Rest of World. The young people who message thrift store creators sometimes seek advice about how to style their clothes, starting a dialogue that determines the kinds of items the store creators source, and the content and trends the page follows. The two also believe that Instagram thrifting has democratized the distribution of fashion, since not all places across India have access to diverse markets. The sellers take their role as influencers very seriously. “A lot of these customers are pretty young and they’re still trying to discover their sense of self,” Alamgir said.  “You really shouldn’t entice them like that. As the creator… you have to prioritize the fact that these are kids that are spending money on your brand. You have to understand your power.” After customers successfully book items through comments and messages on Instagram, shop owners coordinate with local delivery companies to ship packages. Cash on delivery is the common mode of payment in Bangladesh and Nepal, while digital payments are popular in India. “Young kids [in Bangladesh] don’t have bank accounts,” said Alamgir. “I knew that Instagram was something where people could share and like things very instantly. There was already a built-in audience that was going to be seeing my things, because the algorithm would ultimately promote Colors Dhaka to my followers.” But there are limitations to using a social media platform as a storefront. Occasionally, Instagram’s algorithm becomes a hurdle. If a store owner posts too many “drops”– pre-announced limited edition clothing releases – Instagram labels those posts as spam, or blocks them due to vague community guidelines. The thrift store’s cohesively planned grid becomes disrupted as a post gets taken down. Glitches and failed “drops” mean customers fail to book orders, which can cause a loss of followers.Half the Instagram thrift store owners who spoke to Rest of World said they experienced warnings that their posts violated guidelines if they posted more than 30 times a day. “If you are thinking of bringing in big numbers, maybe Instagram is not the right way to go.” Megha Luthra, who manages Rerunn, a thrift sale account on Instagram with 33,200 followers, said she only posts 25 items a day to her page, and showcases the rest on Stories. Luthra adds a question box in these Stories, and whoever sees the item and wants to book can reply within 24 hours. “If you are thinking of bringing in big numbers, maybe Instagram is not the right way to go,” said Manish Jung Thapa, the owner of Antidote, a thrift store and clothing rental service in Nepal. The design of local online classified shopping platforms such as Hamrobazar are not optimized for selling clothing. As a result, Thapa has assembled a team to build an Antidote app. As of January 31, 2022, Instagram has stated that it is unable to support the Shopping feature in India, which means advertisements run by creators still lead to traditional booking through direct messages and comments, rather than an automated checkout. Instagram declined to comment on when it might launch the feature in India. Alamgir, who also wants to eventually open a physical concept store, has seen some thrift store owners in Bangladesh move from Instagram to TikTok live streaming for sales. TikTok, she said, is a lot more fast-paced and saturated compared to Instagram, and creators must promote their businesses daily to hold people’s attention and have the algorithm promote their content. 

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The world already has enough clothes to dress everyone on this planet for two decades, but conditions are finally ripe for a love affair with all things old. With the rise of ‘Nowstalgia’, thrifting became a new pandemic habit. Luxury brands like Gucci and Burberry warmed up to resale, Poshmark entered India and Depop tied up with Etsy, illustrating a second-hand luxury market that is growing at a rate that is faster than the luxury industry’s overall growth. Two women who wear vintage show us how clothes can live a second life. Divya Saini, OWNER OF BODEMENTS“This set is made from my mum’s vintage silk sari, which she inherited from her mother. She has a whole trunk of old saris she has never touched, so I started playing around with them and making samples. Everyone loved them, and now it’s a 15-piece collection that’s a part of Bodements”
 THE JOURNEY: As a kid, I would make my own clothes out of my mum’s old saris and dupattas just to dress apart. I guess the need for innovating and my treasure hunting skills led me to stumble upon my first vintage store in Paris five years ago. Vintage is not a trend, it’s a lifestyle and I felt the need to bring this culture to India. I went on to start my vintage shop, Bodements, a few months later. THE NEXT FRONTIER: We’re kick-starting Bodements Studio, a space for upcycling vintage saris into contemporary silhouettes. We are also venturing into home decor, with antique Parisian mirrors and other curiosities from around the world. PRIDE OF PLACE: The first piece I ever picked at a vintage store—a printed teal, turquoise and purple silk bomber with shoulder pads. I know I will never sell it.

India

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<p><strong>Even though the sale of second-hand clothes has been popular around the world, in India it was not favoure﻿d much. But ever since the Covid-19 pandemic started, people have become more cost-conscious, which cleared the path for online shopping platforms, such as Kiabza, selling pre-owned clothing. </strong></p>