thumbnail_WCTD2022_campaignlogo.jpg

WCTD2022_campaignlogo.jpg

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

large_WCTD background.png

medium_WCTD background.png

small_WCTD background.png

thumbnail_WCTD background.png

WCTD background.png

thumbnail_Starter kit image.JPG

Starter kit image.JPG

Starter Kit collection

Business case

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

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

Fashion and Textiles

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

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

Maximise lifetime of products after use

Marketplaces or services that enable the second hand sale of own-brand products

Own brand second-hand sale

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

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

CE Materials

Impacts

small_climate-4803653_640.jpg

thumbnail_climate-4803653_640.jpg

climate-4803653_640.jpg

Industries

small_coast-wind-turbine-sea-sky.jpg

thumbnail_coast-wind-turbine-sea-sky.jpg

coast-wind-turbine-sea-sky.jpg

Materials

Nace Sectors

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

large_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

medium_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

small_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

thumbnail_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

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

Topics

Urban Opportunities

Whilst no two countries are the same, there are still obvious similarities between some of them, with discernible development patterns and parallels in evidence. Common problems and shared solutions help place unique country identities and individual issues in context.

Whilst this classification is far from clear-cut and exhibits some overlap, it does underline how the discourse on transitioning to a circular economy needs to account for both differences and commonalities, if we are to arrive at a more strategic and instructive analysis. It also allows to highlight a set of key themes that are likely to be central to the countries that fall under the respective profiles. 

Country profiles (Build, Grow, Shift)

thumbnail_bgsimage 14.png

bgsimage 14.png

A framework to distinguish between different country profiles and their circular transition needs.

Browse case studies by type of implementing stakeholder.

Implementing stakeholders

80+ circular strategies for product development 
organised hierarchically into three tiers
with tier 1 and tier 2 based on the Key Elements Framework

DISRUPT

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

thumbnail_wctd.jpg

wctd.jpg

The Circular City Actions Framework provides urban changemakers with five complementary strategies they can use to start working towards a more circular system. 

The framework is action-based to provide users with concrete strategic directions and showcase the desired outcomes of each strategy. 
The framework consists of five complementary **strategies**, under which **sub-strategies** provide further detail. Finally, each sub-strategy consists of a diversity of tangible **solutions** which are framed in relation to key thematic areas. 

Note: solutions are currently focused on:
- 🍏 **Food systems**
- 🏢  **Built environment**
- 👕📱  **Consumer goods**
- ⚡ **Energy Systems**
- 🚌 **Mobility Systems**
- 💧 **Water Systems**

More thematic areas are coming soon...

'Click through each of the five strategy cards below to explore the framework and circular economy case studies in more depth!'



This framework was developed in collaboration with ICLEI, Metabolic and Ellen MacArthur Foundation with support from the MAVA Foundation. Read more about it [here]( https://circulars.iclei.org/action-framework/). 



Circular City Actions Framework

large_Circular-City-Actions-Framework-infographic-scaled_gray background.jpeg

medium_Circular-City-Actions-Framework-infographic-scaled_gray background.jpeg

small_Circular-City-Actions-Framework-infographic-scaled_gray background.jpeg

thumbnail_Circular-City-Actions-Framework-infographic-scaled_gray background.jpeg

Circular-City-Actions-Framework-infographic-scaled_gray background.jpeg

An action-based framework for local governments working towards circular cities

![Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png](https://goldilocks-images.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2024_10_21_at_16_53_12_12858da6aa.png)

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

medium_Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

small_Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

thumbnail_Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

          Zalando’s approach to making fashion more circular with Zircle          Zalando’s approach to making fashion more circular with Zircle           A linear fashion system is not sustainable. Items are sold, worn, and – in the worst-case – put into landfills after the owner discards them. The fashion industry needs to make better use of the planet’s scarce resources and apply the principles of circularity to fashion. There is a long way to go but we are determined to act fast and find ways of applying them to our business. Our do.MORE strategy commitment reflects that by 2023, we apply the principles of circularity and extend the life of at least 50 million fashion products.           Circularity in the fashion industry describes an economic system aimed at minimizing waste and making the most of resources. This approach is in contrast to the traditional linear fashion system, which has a linear “take, make, dispose” model of production. In a circular system, resource input, waste, and emissions are reduced by slowing, closing, and narrowing energy and material loops. This can be achieved, for example, through long-lasting design, repair, reuse, resale and recycling. 
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation identifies the three principles of circularity as  Design out waste and pollution, Keep products and materials in use and, Regenerate natural systems.
           The scale and impact of our platform allows us to positively influence how our customers buy their clothes and care for them later. One solution Zalando has today that ties into a more circular approach to fashion is Zircle.             The free digital application, launched in July 2018, makes selling pre-owned clothes as easy as buying new ones and helps fashion-lovers get the most out of their clothes. Users can digitize their wardrobe to get an overview of everything they own, find and share inspiration, pick tomorrow’s outfit and easily buy or sell clothes within the app. In both cases users have the option to either offer their items to the community or to Zalando, as well as to purchase from other users or the Zalando Fashion Store. All purchases are imported into the app automatically, so the customer’s wardrobe is always updated. But Zircle goes further than a marketplace. It is a digital community for people who seek inspiration on how to reinvent their wardrobes by styling items in a new way or mixing existing items with pre-owned pieces from other users.           With Zircle we apply one of the principles of circularity: “keeping products and materials in use." By impacting post-production phases such as buying, wearing and end-of-life via (re-)selling or donation, Zircle can help extend the life of fashion products and adds a loop to the linear fashion system. Where customers might have discarded fashion items they didn’t like anymore in the past, Zircle enables them to love their items for longer or to resell them so that someone else can wear them. By acquiring pre-owned clothes that otherwise might not have found a buyer to extend its life, Zalando ensures that more items get resold or repurposed. In our forecast for 2019, we will extend the life of more than one million fashion items with Zircle.                               Option 1: Selling to Zalando   User uploads photos of pre-owned products and enters info about brand and condition of up to 20 items at a time. Zalando accepts items across all price points from over 2,500 brands, also names that we don’t offer in the Fashion Store, without clear signs of wear or damage. Zalando checks the photos and immediately shows a total purchase price as well as the prices for each item.   User packs their pre-owned items and sends them to Zalando free of charge.   After scanning the items received, Zalando pays user in credits for the Zalando Fashion Store.   Zalando resells the acquired articles via online and offline channels throughout Europe. If an item was sent in that cannot be accepted, it will either be sent back to the user or donated. 
                   Option 2: Selling to the Community   User offers pre-owned items via Zircle’s marketplace by uploading photos and product information and setting a desired price.   Through the integrated messenger, users can exchange information about items and negotiate prices.   When prospective buyer and seller agree, the seller ships the item and collects the money through their chosen payment option (paypal, bank transfer, cash, etc.) directly within the app.  
          Tags  Corporate Responsibility          

Zalando has expanded its pre-owned fashion platform Zircle to Sweden and Denmark as the demand for second-hand fashion continues to grow.
Around half of Zalando’s customers in those markets said they would consider buying pre-owned fashion within the next six months, according to a survey by the German e-tail giant.
“We are very excited to expand Zircle to Sweden and Denmark and offer Nordic consumers a pre-owned experience with the highest level of convenience,” said Mareike Hummel, director of UX re-commerce at Zalando, in a statement.
Zalando has previously announced a target to extend the life of 50 million fashion items by 2023 through circular initiatives.
Hummel continued: “Over the past two years since launching Zircle in Germany and expanding across Europe, we have gathered many learnings that helped improve the customer experience when shopping on Zircle.”
Zalando first piloted Zircle (the name combines the words Zalando and circular) in 2019 with a pop-up store in Berlin. Since then, the resale platform has expanded to Spain, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Poland.
In line with Zalando’s other target to eliminate single-use plastics by 2023, plastic has been scrapped and recycled paper is being piloted instead for all orders from Zircle.
Photo: Zalando


Berlin

medium_blob

small_blob

thumbnail_blob

blob

Zalando

<p>Zircle is Zalando's free digital application, launched in July 2018, for the sale of pre-owned clothes. Users can digitize their wardrobe to get an overview of everything they own, find and share inspiration, pick tomorrow’s outfit and buy or sell clothes within the app. In both cases users have the option to either offer their items to the community or to Zalando, as well as to purchase from other users or the Zalando Fashion Store. All purchases are imported into the app automatically, so the customer’s wardrobe is updated. Zircle is also a digital community for people who seek inspiration on how to reinvent their wardrobes by styling items in a new way or mixing existing items with pre-owned pieces from other users.</p>