Accelerating Circularity, a new apparel industry collaborative project, has launched efforts to accelerate textile industry’s move from linear to circular. Its project partners are ensuring broad stakeholder representation by collaborating with industry organisations on this work including sharing information, amplifying key messages & streamlining of efforts.

The organisations include American Apparel & Footwear Association, Apparel Impact Institute, Circle Economy, Outdoor Industry Association, Textile Exchange, The Renewal Workshop, and United States Fashion Industry Association.

With figures from Environmental Protection Agency showing that 15 million tonnes of textile waste is generated annually in US alone, the textile industry must move from a ‘take, make, waste’ system to a circular one, in order to avoid the massive amounts of textile waste put into landfills annually.

The Walmart Foundation provided a grant to Textile Exchange’s Accelerating Circularity Project. Gap Inc, Target, and VF Corporation are also funding the project and participating in a working group. The project is initially focused on researching, mapping and identifying opportunities to pilot circular supply chains which will be driven by the mechanical and chemical recycling of cotton, viscose and polyester textile waste.

These three fibres cover over 80 per cent of all textile fibre production and are therefore important to focus on in order to reduce textile waste. Future phases will use phase 1 data and information to execute pilots and establish new research in other geographies.

The Accelerating Circularity founding project partners include Gap Inc, Giotex, Gr3n, Target, VF Corporation, Lenzing, Unifi, Revolve Waste and Fabrikology International, Inc, representing technology providers, fibre manufacturers, and experts in textile waste and supply chains, as well as brands and retailers.

“Shifting the apparel industry toward more circular solutions is a complex challenge with significant technical, economic, and business implications. At Gap Inc, we have a responsibility to protect the environment and reduce waste at every stage of our production process – from design, to sourcing, to manufacturing.

As we address the full life cycle of our garments, we look forward to working with these partners to collaborate, advance efforts and share learnings with the wider industry for the health of our planet,” said Alice Hartley, senior manager of sustainable innovation at Gap Inc and board member of accelerating circularity.

Accelerating Circularity’s board members include, Tricia Carey of Lenzing, Alice Hartley of Gap Inc, Beth Jensen of VF Corporation, Karla Magruder of Accelerating Circularity, Eileen Mockus of Coyuchi, and Laila Petrie of 2050.

Accelerating Circularity is a newly established project with a mission to create textile to textile supply chains that eliminate textile waste.