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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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Business case

Impacts on the social fabric of the community and well-being of the individuals and families.

Social 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

Producing and providing business and consumer goods and services

Goods and Services

Producing indoor products for the home and office, such as furniture, including upholstery, carpets and wall-coverings, as well as cutlery, cookware, glassware, crystal, silverware, utensils, kitchenware and household specialties

Home and Office Furnishings

Producing and providing leisure and personal products and services for consumers, such as cleaning products, sports equipment and toys, personal and beauty care products, as well as domestic and personal services such as caretaking, cleaning, hairdressing and other beauty treatment, funeral and related activities

Personal Products and Services

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

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

Industry peers to industry peer collaboration to create joint value and identify synergies

Industry collaboration

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

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

Inform

'Mobilise' sets the direction of and builds momentum towards long-term change, while also determining how this direction is determined and governed.

Mobilise

'Incentivise' sends market signals and support to businesses, citizens and governments to promote certain activities.

Incentivise

 Develop research, structure knowledge, encourage innovation networks and disseminate findings with integrity


Strengthen and advance knowledge

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

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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 The challenge: In Brazil, nearly 200,000 tons of solid waste is collected each day and only about 3% is recycled.  The solution: Rede Asta invests in partnership-building with corporates as well as encouraging entrepreneurship by training groups of female artisans to recover various discarded materials and transform them into valuable corporate gift collections.  What makes it circular: Discarded materials are collected and reused, keeping valuable resources in the economy while at the same time generating social and economic inclusion for women. The benefits: value is captured, companies' liability is reduced - both contributing to an equitable supply chain in terms of revenue distribution. Working with Rede Asta increases artisans’ revenues on average by 25%. 

By Paula Adamo IdoetaBBC reporter, Sao Pauloimage captionThe Crafty Women team can now sell their products across the whole of BrazilOn the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, plastic bottles and posters are being transformed into purses and bags by the workers at a small co-operative.Established in 2006, the business is called Crafty Women (Mulheres Arteiras). It offers work for 20 people, who as its name suggests are predominantly female.While trade was slow for the co-operative in its early days, three years ago it was given a major boost when its products started being sold across Brazil by a retailer called Rede Asta.Rede Asta is run as a social enterprise - a business which puts tackling social problems rather than profit maximisation as its primary motive.It was set up in 2005 to help artisans from poor communities gain access to a much bigger market, and also to help them build up their skills.Today Rede Asta works with 53 co-operatives across Brazil, which are mostly run by women and employ more than 700 people between them.Rede Asta helps the businesses with design ideas, and techniques to increase the quality and value of their products, while encouraging them to hold on to their regional identities, colours and materials. The best products from each co-operative - such as bags, decorative items and women's accessories, made mostly from recycling materials and typical Brazilian craftsmanship - are then sold through Rede Asta's catalogues, physical shops in Rio and Sao Paulo, and website."Rede Asta has been providing us with more sales opportunities," says Marcia da Costa, a 46-year-old artisan from Crafty Women. "And we are improving our products [to make the most of the increased marketplace]."Commentators say that the relationship between Crafty Women and Rede Asta is just one example of a slow but constant improvement in social businesses in Brazil.image captionRede Asta sells Crafty Women products such as this walletSuch enterprises as Rede Asta are moving away from relying on donations and goodwill, and instead are aiming to establish more sustainable commercial models, which can offer investors a small profit on their investment.In turn this has led to more interest in investing in Brazil's growing number of social businesses.image captionAlice Freitas and her business partner hope that Rede Asta will break even in three years' timeAccording to recent data from the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), an international body which promotes entrepreneurship in the developing world, about $200m (£118m) has already been invested in Brazilian social enterprises this year by private investors and investment funds.This compares with just $76m between 2001 and 2013.However, this is just a tiny amount of the total $17bn ANDE expects to be invested worldwide in social businesses this year.And Rebeca Rocha, ANDE's co-ordinator in Brazil, says that despite progress in the country, it still has a long way to go to catch up with other nations."Brazil still lacks an environment that encourages social entrepreneurship, something that is happening more steadily in other developing countries such as Mexico and Kenya," she says.Rede Asta's two co-founders - Alice Freitas, 35, and Raquel Schettino, 37 - used all their savings to set up their business.They started selling their first products in 2008, but were unable to make any money for the first two years - and almost went bankrupt.Mrs Fretas says: "We hired a consulting company, planned every detail, called in experienced saleswomen. But it all went wrong."image captionPupils attending a 4you2 language classThe company's initial strategy was to use a team of established saleswomen to sell its products door-to-door, but sales were weak.And so the business has since opened two brick-and-mortar stores, and also started selling via its website.In addition Rede Asta hired a marketing director and started to focus its sales more on higher-income consumers.It also replaced the word "handicraft" with "handmade" when describing the products it sold, because Mrs Freitas and Ms Schettino said the former seemed to suggest a degree of amateurism."What we offer is handmade design," says Mrs Freitas. "We have built a team to research trends in fashion and home decoration and pass that knowledge on to the producers."We value the uniqueness of each product, but want to help the artisans improve what they were already crafting."Last year, Rede Asta, which directly employs 19 people, sold more than 38,000 items, both directly to consumers, and via wholesale. Its annual revenues reached about 1m reais ($450,000; £265,000). It says it is on target to balance its budget by 2017, and in the meantime continues to get sponsorship from companies such as Coca-Cola Brazil.Rodrigo Carvalho, a professor in entrepreneurship at Brazil's ESPM University, says the country is building "an ecosystem for social businesses", with academics like himself contributing by passing on their knowledge to social businesses.Language school 4You2 is one Brazilian social business which sought such expert advice.image captionMost of the products Ede Asta sells are made from recycled materials"We were taught how to take care of our brand, improve our processes, and our structure," says Claudia Carolina Fuga, a partner at 4You2, which runs its lessons in poor communities across the country.4You2, which has its headquarters in Sao Paulo, keeps its fees below the market average by running classrooms inside the offices of non-government organisations, and by hiring foreign teachers using a fellowship programme.The teachers receive a small monthly payment, and accommodation in a home inside the communities where they work.According to Ms Fuga, 4You2 started to make a profit after its third month, and that it currently teaches 1,000 students.Mr Carvalho says social businesses are learning to combine their passion for a social cause with increased business and management techniques.The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

A
Rede Asta foi fundada em 2005 por Alice Freitas e Rachel Schettino. As duas
vinham de carreiras em grandes
multinacionais. Mas decidiram deixar o caminho tradicional de lado para
empreender. Não como um empreendedor comum, como empreendedoras sociais. Alice
havia viajado para a Índia a fim de conhecer de perto negócios sociais que
aconteciam no país. Lá ela se apaixonou pelo feito a mão ao ver as artesãs tecendo.
Por isso, começar seu negócio
social com o objetivo de valorizar o artesanato brasileiro e empoderar as
artesãs foi o caminho lógico que seu coração e intuição mandaram. Em parceria
com Rachel, mergulharam de cabeça nessa economia única. Ao longo dos anos, com
acertos e erros, estão costurando a história de várias mulheres artesãs à delas
através da Rede Asta.Nosso
nome vem de Astrea, uma deusa grega que, segundo a Mitologia, foi enviada ao
mundo dos mortais para dar fim a um período de maldade e inveja. Sob a
influência de Astrea, a humanidade viveu uma época de justiça e igualdade. Por
meio de parcerias  buscamos empoderar e gerar renda para artesãs
brasileiras, seguindo a missão que trazemos no nome.

Brazil

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Rede Asta

<p>Rede Asta is a social business that operates in the handmade economy, developing artisans into entrepreneurs who transform waste into beautiful and earth-friendly products.</p>