Data from the United Nations Alliance for Sustainable Fashion shows the clothing and textile industry is responsible for about two to eight percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. It uses 215 trillion liters of water for production and contributes to about nine percent of microplastic deposits to oceans annually.

According to the Clean Clothes Campaign, a whopping 100 billion pieces of clothing are produced each year while according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, only about 12 percent of materials used for fashion production are recycled. The rest are either incinerated or left in landfills—sometimes before they even reach retail stores or are bought by consumers.

The question now: How can we make the fashion industry sustainable? A circular economy approach may be the solution.

Circular brands

All over the world, there are small fashion brands that are upholding sustainability by ‘closing the loop’ in their production process. In the Philippines, for example, online platform Basically Borrowed gives users a platform to sell, resell, or buy secondhand fashion items. In addition, ukay-ukay shops or thrift stores and hand-me-downs have been a circular practice in the Philippines for a long time, due primarily to necessity.

Nike, through its circularity program Nike Grind, processes manufacturing scrap, unused materials, and used and end-of-life shoes to create sustainable products with their partners, like rubber flooring, carpet padding, and shoes. The company has reprocessed 130 million pounds of Nike Grind into new products since the program was initiated in 1992.

Meanwhile, Swedish retail giant  H&M aims to be a circular brand by 2025. Currently, it applies circular business models by redesigning and reinventing pieces made with in-store used garments. This includes the brand’s Arket Patchwork denim, which sources post-consumer fabrics to be cut up and sewn together. Arket products are relatively easier to recycle as they are 90 percent made from cotton.

Designing a circular approach

Available data shows how the fashion industry has direct and serious environmental impacts. What’s more, the market is hounded by social and humanitarian issues. Consumers are becoming aware of these as shown by the shift in their consumption patterns. A McKinsey survey shows 67 percent of consumers find materials an important purchasing factor and 63 percent consider how sustainable the brand is.

The fashion industry has a ‘catastrophic potential’, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation finds. “If the fashion industry continues on its current path, by 2050 it could use more than 26 percent of the carbon budget associated with a 2°C global warming limit. Moving away from the current linear and wasteful textiles system is therefore crucial … “ says the foundation, which pushes the following visions for a ‘new’ global textiles system:

1. New business models that increase clothing use
2. Safe and renewable inputs
3. Solutions so used clothes are turned into new

In applying these, the fashion industry, as a whole, could produce high-quality, affordable, and modifiable clothes. But more importantly, it would utilize the full value and potential of the products: Fashion items that are durable, personalized, and produced with renewable energy and ethical and sustainable materials.