Welcome to the May edition of the Circular Digest.
And say hello to our 12 new subscribers, we're delighted to have you!
This week we'll cover:
Results from the 2025 annual Circularity Gap Report, and why circularity is decreasing
Sprite's label-less bottle!
A deep dive on reshaping textile's linear model to drive forward the circular economy
Read on!
P.S: If you're interested in collaborating, get in touch by replying to this email 📩
Circular Roundup
Research: The annual Circularity Gap Report by Circle Economy and Deloitte has been released for 2025. It's not good. The circularity of the global economy continues to decline, with secondary materials making up 6.9%, down from 7.2% in 2023 and 9.1% in 2018. The extraction of non-metallic minerals, used for construction, electronics and energy is the primary driver for this decline.
Policy: The UK is forging ahead with the creation of its Deposit Return Scheme. An industry-led Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) has officially been appointed to run the scheme to ensure members across the supply chain, including producers and retailers, meet its targets and work together to create a circular economy. Plastic and aluminium and steel single-use drink containers between 150ml-3L will be covered under the DRS, which is due to be rolled out October 2027.
Policy: Dubai's zero waste target is zero waste to landfill by 2030, and they're set to close all landfills by 2027. However, they're focusing on Waste-to-Energy to meet this goal, building the world’s largest waste-to-energy facility in Warsan, which processes 2 million tonnes of waste annually. This method of recovery is often seen as controversial, as it's claimed to be clean but is not circular, as waste isn't prevented, and produces GHG emissions and air pollution,
Policy: Blow for Kenya's EPR scheme as the courts have blocked the introduction of new fees for particularly hazardous substances and materials. The new fees proposed that products like chemicals, electrical and electronic equipment, treated wood, and accumulators have an import fee of Ksh150 per item, while also proposing a fine of up to Ksh2 million, imprisonment for a term of 4 years, or both for producers who fail to adhere to the requirements.
Industry: Coca-Cola has started a trial with label-less Sprite bottles. Instead of a label, these new trial bottles feature an embossed logo on the front of the pack and laser-engraved product information on the back. The bottle is made from 100% clear recycled PET with an attached cap, this innovation should help simplify recycling even further!
Image credit: Coca-Cola
Action This
To truly progress circularity, step 1 is understanding the material flows across your entire value chain. Whether you're focusing on plastics, textiles or a mix of material resources, map where these materials are used, upstream, within your operations, downstream, through to end-of-life management. This comprehensive view will help you identify hotspots, risks and opportunities to make your business more circular.
Reshaping Textiles Linear Model
Back when my parents’ were young, they said they’d have 1 pair of jeans. They’d sit in the bath to mold these jeans to their body and then they’d wear them over and over again. These jeans were so durable, they could wear them forever!
Now, we have jeans that get holes in after a couple months. This needs to change, but how?
The problem with textiles
The textile industry is booming. In 2023, the global textile market was valued at USD$1.8 trillion. And this isn’t slowing down. From 2024-2030 the industry is predicted to grow 7.4% annually in revenue.
Globally, textile consumption is up and utilisation is down. In the last 15 years, utilisation has decreased by 36% while clothing sales have almost doubled. In China, utilisation is down by a huge 70% over the same time period. It is estimated the average EU citizen buys, wears and throws away 20kg of textiles annually. For context, this is the same weight as 2 car tires!
The composition of textiles has changed too. Historically, textiles were made from natural fibers such as cotton and wool. Synthetic petrochemical based fibers, such as polyester, acrylic, nylon and rayon now make up more of the global fibre consumption.
So what does this mean for the environment?
At every stage of the textiles value chain, there are environmental impacts. It is estimated that the total carbon footprint of the textiles industry is approx. 43,000 megatonnes CO2e, with the majority of this actually coming from downstream indirect emissions, for example through transportation, usage and disposal. This is more than flights and marine shipping combined!
To make a single cotton t-shirt, it takes 2700L of fresh water, which is enough for one person’s drinking needs for 2.5 years. Textile production is also responsible for approx. 20% of global clean water pollution due to chemicals used to dye and finish (e.g., changing the texture, look or performance) the materials.
It’s not just production though. Did you know that one of the biggest sources of microplastics comes from washing your clothes made from synthetic fibres? In fact, the majority of microplastics come from the first few washes, so fast fashion, with its mass production and low durability model exponentially increases this.
The circularity of textiles is also incredibly low. Less than 1% of textiles are recycled in a closed loop. 73% of textiles are sent to landfill or incinerated at end-of-life, while 12% is lost during production, showing waste occurs throughout the value chain. Often there is also a lack of value chain visibility, such as the chemicals, dyes or adhesives used, which can hinder recyclability.
Source: A new textiles economy, Redesigning fashion’s future (The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017)
So how can textiles become more circular?
Circularity starts in the design phase. It’s not enough to just recycle more. We need to design out waste in the first place. So what can this look like? Firstly, textiles need to be designed to be more durable, instead of fabrics that get holes in after one wash. They also need to be designed for recycling. Modularity can come in here. Designing textiles with components which can be taken apart, so the buttons can be separated from the zips which can be separated from the fabric, so they can be reused or recycled at its highest value.
Proper waste infrastructure is also needed. Over the last 20 years, textile waste exports from the EU have tripled, with the majority going to African or Asian countries which don’t have the waste infrastructure to dispose of this influx properly. More investment is needed to not just scale up textile recycling capacity, but also to scale up reuse infrastructure, including repair services.
So what is actually needed to incentivise producers to do this? This is where Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) comes into play. Through modulated fees, durability and recycled content could be incentivised, as long as the difference between modulation incentives are large enough to make a financial impact on companies. Fees from EPR also provides funding for management systems of reuse and recycling. EPR can also incentivise behaviour change in consumers too. In EPR schemes, the cost of the fees are usually passed on to the consumer, as they raise the prices of the final product. So, this could incentivise consumers to actually buy less clothes, or buy more sustainable, circular clothes.
Cool companies increasing textile circularity
Patagonia is the model for circular textile commerce. They currently offer free repairs to all customers for life, provide education and training on repairing your own clothes, have a recycling takeback scheme and sell secondhand items online.
DyeRecycle is tackling chemical circularity in the textile industry. By separating dyes from waste fibres, they can recycle and reuse the dye, while turning the decoloured fibres into high-quality recycling feedstock.
HURR is the UK’s leading rental service. Have a big occasion, party or event? Rent an outfit instead of buying one new. Save resources and money!
Patagonia repair centre in the UK (image credit: Patagonia)
Smart Picks 🧠
Driving a Circular Economy for Textiles - This report I co-authored for the Changing Markets Foundation and European Environmental Bureau explores how EPR can be designed to drive a circular economy for textiles, starting with reduction. It helped shape the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles.
What did you think of this edition of Circular Digest? If you have any thoughts, questions, or ideas for future content, reply to this email. 😊
See you next month!
Kayleigh
How can I help you? 💪
Here are a few ways, whenever you are ready:
💡Book a free 30 min circularity advisory clinic: Don't know where to start on your circularity journey? Have a specific circularity challenge you need help solving? Let's chat and explore how I can support your goals.
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