Circular Textiles Foundation pushes for action
The Circular Textiles Foundation (CTF) is a non-profit founded by Tim Cross to increase and encourage fibre-to-fibre recycling through design and traceability. Mr Cross is also the founder of the UK’s first textile-to-textile recycling facility Project Re:Claim. The foundation offers various courses for designers and brands and has created a label that, if still remaining on a garment at the end of its useful life, could allow it to be directed to a recycling facility that can process it.
To encourage collective action and also help the different players in the supply chain better understand their respective needs, the foundation organised a get-together last week at London College of Fashion. Representatives from key recyclers, Circulose (Sweden), Recover (Spain), Project Re:Claim (UK), OnceMore (Sweden) and iinouiiio (UK), and fashion brands and retailers – Primark, Tesco, John Lewis and Next – were present. The event was part of a Scaling Circularity Project workshop, in collaboration with University of the Arts London and funded by IMPACT+.
One of the main goals of the event was to share knowledge, Tim Cross told Sportstextiles. “Recyclers need to know what brands and retailers need to adopt recycled fibres, and it is important for brands to know what recyclers can provide.” There are many aspects to making a recycling ecosystem viable, he said, citing the evolution of legislation, extended producer responsibility schemes and mandatory recycled content. But it is also necessary that a greater number of clothes de designed to be recycled, which is the mission of the Circular Textiles Foundation.
“Design for recyclability isn’t just a concept—it’s the foundation for a scalable circular fashion economy,” noted Mr Cross.
Project Re:Claim is featuredin our article on thermo-mechanical recycling, see here.
