Circular Economy Information Sheet

Design and make

At this stage of the cycle, we look to policy makers, industrial designers and chemist, agricultural scientists, innovators and businesses to:

Rethink design and manufacture at all stages of the supply chain.
- Using natural textiles such as cotton, linen, hemp, wool and bamboo which create less microfibres than man made materials such as polyesters (representative of more than 50% of all textiles produced), nylon, acrylic etc.
- Reducing the reliance on fossil fuels in textile generation.
- Industry set sustainability targets. For example, the cotton industry, often criticised for causing environmental damage, became the first agricultural industry in Australia to apply benchmarks to its environmental performance. It has developed a sustainability framework called “Planet. People. Paddock.” The 2022 Australian cotton industry sustainability summary report gives students some useful statistics.
- Using innovative techniques such as waterless dyeing.
- Innovation in man-made textile production.

Use

Consider consumption - This is the area where ALL Australians can make a difference. By buying less, ultimately less items will be sent to landfill. There is no denying Australians of all ages love “retail therapy”. We are surrounded by fashion advertising. And as a consequence, we are buying more than ever before but wearing items for less time, resulting in more garments being sent to landfill. Previously the fashion industry created seasonal collections. This has changed to a situation where new trends are being released fortnightly or even weekly.
Extending the life of clothing. Many items that are produced in the fast fashion cycle are made with low quality materials and mass produced. By purchasing items that are better quality and then caring for them better will extend the life of our clothing. Many creators of quality fashion items lead with consumers to launder their items less to protect the fibres from breaking down.
Of the 100 billion garments produced globally each year, an estimated 30% go to landfill within the first year of purchase.
- The Monash Sustainable Development Institute report. Textiles; A Transitions Report for Australia outlines statistics around consumption for student consideration
- Australians are the second largest consumers of textiles globally, behind the US, purchasing on average an estimated 27kg of new fashion and textiles each year (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water [DAWE], 2021). This is twice the global average of 13kg per person (Shirvanimoghaddam et al., 2020).
- Australians buy 14.8kg of clothing every year - equating to 56 new items per person, per year - making Australia one of the highest clothing consumers in the world (Allan & Allan, 2022).
- Of annual new sales purchases, it is estimated that 92% of clothing items will outflow in the same year (AFC, 2022b).

Reuse and repair

Fast fashion encourages a throw away culture. Reusing and repairing is a way we can all contribute towards reducing the impacts of the fast fashion industry.

Repurposed fashion. There are a number of ways clothing items can be repurposed ranging from making bags from old jeans to creative and innovative art pieces. Students could investigate the ways that artists are repurposing fashion to create art pieces. The We the Makers Sustainable Fashion Prize would be an appropriate starting point for this investigation.
Artist Kate Sylvester’s art practice sees her dethread and deconstruct t-shirts, transforming the everyday item we all have in our wardrobes into new and interesting forms. Sylvester was one of the finalists in the 2023 We the Makers Sustainable Fashion Prize. Her work, My Favourite T-Shirt (pictured) was made by de-threading and deconstructing two t-shirts demonstrating the amount of fibre required to produce the everyday item. Sylvester’s work typified the Sustainable Fashion Prize in the Circular Processes Innovation category.
- Sylvester says of her art practice:
  - I have begun designing and executing couture wearable art. Each garment is hand-stitched to reverse the time investment on creating a garment
  - I aim to respect and celebrate the beauty and the potential of the fabric
  - I want to inspire a positive response, instead of consumer guilt, that is empowered by the beauty of the things we take for granted

Companies such as RE/DONE reuse ‘heritage' fashion items such as Levi jeans into modern pieces. They claim to have diverted 225,850 pieces from landfill by redesigning them into new highly sought-after pieces.
However, students should be aware that RE/DONE’s sustainability rating on Good On You is “Not good enough”. This seems to be predominantly due to a lack of evidence. Presenting this information in your discussion with students should remind them to think critically about the information they are presented within company websites. This phenomenon is known as ‘greenwashing’.
Greenwashing is where a company targets its audience’s preference to act sustainably in its marketing strategies. They might do this by using terms such as ‘organic’, ‘sustainable’ etc. Or they might promote their sustainability vision but not mention their materials are sourced or manufactured.

Reusing and reselling items
- Company buybacks. More and more companies are participating in schemes to facilitate the reselling of their items. Companies like The Iconic and Uniqlo partner with companies such as AirRobe who will list items for resale. Students could examine the schemes from companies like The Iconic, Uniqlo, Country Road, Zara etc.
- Circular sourcing is another enterprise that offers a virtual market place for textile dead stock. This new Australian initiative has received support from the Victorian government through the Sustainability Victoria’s Circular Economy Business Innovation Fund.
Many non for profits and charitable organisations are working to redirect and reallocate clothing and textiles. Thread Together would make a great case study for students. Thread Together redirects unsold new fashion items to people in need.

The fashion reselling community is growing exponentially. Many people are becoming involved in clothes swap parties, selling and buying second-hand clothes and favouring op shops and vintage clothing shops.. A range of apps and social media platforms support second-hand fashion. Social media campaigns such as #buynothingnewmonth, #nonewclothes, #secondhandisnotsecondbest, and #wearyourwardrobe have grown and encourage a more thoughtful and intentional consumerism.
There has also been a rise in companies who lease clothing which is a great option for special event shopping, where items are often only worn once. Students might research an experiment conducted by Professor Steve Evans from Cambridge University. Listen to an interview with him on the ABC Threads podcast.
Clothing can be repaired. Repairing items, rather than disposing of items, would have been the first option for our parents and grandparents’ generation. The slow mending movement sees items repaired in a way that adds to their beauty and uniqueness. ReUniqlo Studio repairs clothes in artful and subtle ways to enable them to be resold.
The Guardian: The fast fashion fix: 20 ways to stop buying new clothes for ever

Recycle

It is agreed that repurposing is a preferred management strategy for textile waste. Recycling is preferred to incinerating waste and sending it to landfill. However, there are many challenges with textile recycling.

A multi-pronged approach is needed. Students might find relevant information at Textile Recyclers Australia. This business works with a range of retailers to move to a more circular approach through recycling, reusing and upcycling. Textile Recyclers Australia also have a research and development remit where they collaborate with the University of New South Wales.

Recycle materials. Polyester is the most prevalent fibre used in the textiles industry. This leads to challenges with recycling.

Textile recycling is typically classified as mechanical or chemical recycling. Mechanical recycling degrades waste into decoration, construction, agricultural, and gardening use. Chemical recycling involves a process where polymers are depolymerized (polyester) or dissolved (cotton and viscose). Chemical recycling can produce fibers of equal quality compared to virgin materials [24,50]. The sorted textile waste could be chemically treated to extract resources such as protein-based fibers to produce wood panel adhesives; and cellulosic fibers for bioethanol production
A Review on Textile Recycling Practices and Challenges by Jeanger P. Juanga-Labayen ,Ildefonso V. Labayen and Qiuyan Yuan

Reprocessing other materials into fibres. Some companies are making use of reprocessed materials such as plastic bottles to construct fashion garments. While this seems to be a great solution, students need to be reminded that these items do not have the longevity of items made from natural fibres and they still release microplastics. Unfortunately, very few polyester textiles are recycled into new polyester textiles.

Step 4

Students will investigate in greater detail, some of the strategies being used currently to reduce the impacts of the fashion industry.

Depending on the size and make up of your class, you might divide the circular economy areas up across the class so small groups become experts in specific areas. If using this method, students would need to be given the time to share their new knowledge with their peers.

Fast Fashion: Reducing the Impacts

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