"The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy" takes the exemplary T-shirt, and takes us on a journey to discover its origins. From Texas, to China, to the US again, and then to the second-hand trade in Africa.
Circular economy is the antonym of linear economy. Linear economy has been the dominant industrial model in our history and postulates production is followed by consumption that then ends up with the disposal of used products. As opposed to this, circular economy seeks to rebuild capital, whether this is financial, manufactured, human, social or natural and sees products having a longer or a never-ending life that are either re-used as new inputs to create new products or shared and co-owned by different consumers.
The term ‘circular economy’ has recently been – again – converted into a buzz word. To some extent there are a couple of good reasons for that as both common sense as well as the Ellen McArthur foundation's most recent report prove.
It is quite astonishing: all the different contexts that the term ‘circularity’ or ‘circular economy’ is being used. They key point mostly is of course the waste reduction promises inherent in the term, and the subsequent lower dependency on finite resources.
But, in addition to reducing waste, carbon – or rather carbon footprint – is a key factor.
Unfortunately, the reality is sobering: taking fashion as example, at best between 3% and 6% of the industry's carbon footprint could be remedied that way.
And even worse: in order to realise the potential, three fundamental hurdles must be addressed. Some efforts are underway, of course, but a steep hill remains to climb.
The world, by and large, operates based on land-filling. The only way to improve the situation any time soon is: not to landfill. At all. Or at least as little as possible, and that asap.
To that extent, 2 reports on textiles the circular economy have been published, both of which look at the issue from different, and complementary perspectives.
What is it that we can learn from these 2 reports, side by side?
One, the old adage could not be any truer: One Man’s Rubbish is another Man’s Treasure. And: True cost accounting would make a huge difference.
Fashion Futures has analysed the fashion industry and come up with 4 scenarios for 2025. Opnuu, a UK start up, plans to commercialise clothing rental - outlined already in the Community Couture scenario.
Cradle to Cradle is a design methodology that puts a 'waste-less' world at its heart. What is the concept all about? What does it mean for the apparel industry? And who practises it among designers and companies?
The amount of textile products thrown away, incinerated using fuel, or sent to the landfill in Japan comes to about 1.97 million tons per year. Contrary to other materials, for textile products, however, there is no nationwide recycling law in place.
That textile waste – in the shape of garments as well as in other incarnation – has increasingly a commercial value in an area of globalised markets was a topic here in Shirahime on more than one occasion. This book takes on a larger perspective: Each chapter of the this book offers insights into the recycling economy of a distincly different industry.
The cat is – long-time coming - finally left out of the bag: while drawing up a Covid19 recovery package, EU legislators have decided to introduce a levy on non-recycled plastic as per 1st of January 2020. Reading through the text, two points offer a considerable surprise: The short notice, the wording, and the focus on packaging.
But how come that legislators seem to drive the industry R&D agenda? Here a few questions for boards to ask their CEOs to get to the bottom of this.
Within the EU, legislative requirements have lead to implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes (EPRs) in the following industries so far: packaging, electrical and electronic equipment, batteries and automotive industries.
In this article, we would like to look sidewise, and see what can be learned from the electronic and electrical equipment industry, as they have been ahead of the curve – although not always voluntarily, since the 1995 laws came into place – when it comes to the implementation of EPR.
Smateria is a Cambodian upcycling bag label founded by 2 Italian women. What originally was a haphazard venture with the will to improve the lives of Cambodian women has turned by now into a successful social business.
As I write this, it is late April.
And our lessons from the last few weeks in Corona lock down and the impact of the pandemic on our communities and societies, all over the world, have thrown an even harsher light onto some of the realities we either assumed as a given, or worked hard to change for years already.
And the lessons have been truly tough medicine.
Over the last 12 months, the Doughnut Economics Action lab developed a methodology – denominated ‘Creating City Portraits’ - , tested in three different cities of the global North. So the question is: Could the methodology work for business too? The answer: Yes in principle. But commitment is at the heart of it.
ntil the late 80s, fashion retailers and brands would typically have two main collections a year: spring/summer and autumn/winter. Then, in the 90s things changed dramatically. Increased competition saw retailers incentivising customers to visit their stores more frequently.
Discarded at one time, and hidden away in a drawer of the family home or even flogged off in a car boot sale, 'Little Glass Clementine' turns the most improbable centre piece of unique necklaces, each made 'to measure' for the personality and character of its new owner.
This book emerges itself into how clothing is bought, worn, discarded and recycled within India. In other words, it tracks down how Indian citizens (primarily women) manage their wardrobes, and the strategies and criteria of how they do it.
“When you do something wrong, don’t try improve upon it.” Instead you go back to design of a product, and fix the problem right where it went wrong in first place
This article has originally been published online by ‘Japan for Sustainability’ (JFS) on May 30, 2005. It is the 1st...
The effect of plastics in our oceans has been repeatedly hit in the news over the last few years.
A hazard in two forms: as a plastic in totality; or as a microfiber/micro particle, which also carries chemistry (pollution) into the environment, from the product they started life as. Research to date shows that this pollution cannot be exhaustively blocked through wastewater treatment plants, consequently micro particles are ending up in our global waterways.
