CIRCULARITY news and archive

Thumbs up or down? How brands and retailers fared in Greenpeace’s greenwashing study

Many of us - as consumers or textile and clothing industry insiders - wonder how to make sense of confusing garment labels that claim that said garment is “sustainable”, “eco”, “green” or some other term that suggests that buying this garment or textile is in any way less harmful for the environment. ‘If only someone would compare all those and...

BusinessFeatured

Greenpeace greenwashing study: brands’ sustainable promises are ‘fake standards’

Hardly any term has been so enthusiastically embraced in recent years as “sustainability” - suddenly everything is “green”, “sustainable”, “eco” or “organic”. Unfortunately, however, it often remains a promising term that holds little water in practice. “Conscious” collections turn out to be minimally recycled and clothing return initiatives are...

BusinessFeatured

Report analyses if circular economy can create good jobs, finds bias

A new joint report by global impact organisation Circle Economy, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE) programme at the World Bank followed the question if a circular economy could create good jobs. According to estimates, a total of 7 to 8 million new jobs could be created by increasing the...

Business

Alibaba and L’Oréal partner on promoting a circular economy in China’s beauty market

Marketplace giant Alibaba has signed a three-year partnership with cosmetics conglomerate L’Oréal which will centre around the promotion of a circular economy in China’s beauty industry. The signing ceremony took place alongside French president Emmanuel Macron’s three-day visit to the country, during which Alibaba’s chairman and CEO, Daniel...

Business

Fashion and sustainability in March 2023

March witnessed some highlights in terms of the fashion industry's sustainability efforts: A study showed that social media is one of the most influential sources of sustainability information for consumers, while luxury brands Sonia Carrasco, MaisonCléo and Rabôt and young labels Vernisse, Quinta Maso, Fateeva and Re49 Shoes proved how...

BusinessFeatured

Circularity platform Responsible acquires re-commerce provider Haru

Two Belfast-based sustainability innovators, global circularity platform Responsible and fashion re-commerce provider Haru are joining forces to strengthen North Ireland’s position as a fashion circularity hub in Europe. In a statement, Responsible said it has acquired Haru to unite its cutting-edge re-commerce technologies and circularity...

Business

Fashion for Good launches Sorting for Circularity USA project

The global sustainability initiative Fashion for Good has launched its new Sorting for Circularity USA project today, which will focus on the North-American textile-to-textile recycling market. External brand partners are Adidas, Inditex, Levi Strauss & Co. and Target, and external partners are Eastman, H&M and Nordstrom. The 18-month project...

BusinessFeatured

Sustainability round-up 2022

Looking back at the year 2022 in light of the sustainability efforts of the textile and apparel industry, two topics stood out: textile recycling and greenwashing. In view of the growing mountains of discarded clothing and textiles, more has to be done in the area of textile-to-textile recycling so that no virgin materials are used. Efforts to...

Business

Sustainability round-up December 2022

In December, in addition to exciting industry collaborations and the announcement of upcoming trade fairs with a sustainability focus, there were studies to read again that examined, among other things, fashion's growth surpassing sustainability efforts, according to a new report by Wrap. Thus, it was more than timely when the Institut Français...

BusinessFeatured

Stella McCartney and Protein Evolution partner on textile recycling venture

US biological recycling company Protein Evolution, Inc. (PEI) has announced a research and development collaboration with Stella McCartney to turn unused polyester and nylon fabrics into “good-as-new” products to demonstrate a circular solution for the fashion industry. The collaboration aims to demonstrate the potential of PEI’s enzyme-based...

Fashion Featured

Fashion's growth is surpassing sustainability efforts, says report

Growth in the fashion industry is hampering sustainability targets as environmental impact from brands, retailers and manufacturers remains high. Current reductions in carbon footprints, water usage and embracing circular businesses is far slower than the rate of growth. The UK Government has announced policies and proposals to decarbonise all...

Fashion Featured

Adidas by Stella McCartney unveils “industry-first” viscose sportswear

Adidas has unveiled a new viscose sportswear range as part of its collaboration with British designer Stella McCartney to demonstrate the potential of a circular fashion ecosystem. The tracksuit has been made as part of the New Cotton Project, an EU consortium of 12 partners, and took the process of making the apparel from a linear to a circular...