Fashion Positive launches first-ever Circular Materials Guidelines

Fashion Positive, a nonprofit initiative for circular fashion, haslaunched its first-ever Circular Materials Guidelines to align the fashionindustry on what circular fibres are, and how their design can make themequipped for a circular economy.

Fashion Positive has created the Circular Materials Guidelines in closecollaboration with industry stakeholders, to provide safer and cleaner waysto produce fashion.

The guidelines provide a route to integrate renewable energy, cleanerwater, recycled or reclaimed feedstock and to address chemical safety intothe fibre content of apparel, footwear and textile. Circular fibres andyarns are essential for producing fashion that is cleaner and safer for theenvironment, according to Fashion Positive.

Megan Stoneburner, director of sustainability and sourcing atOuterknown, said in a statement: “The fashion industry won’t surviveanymore in a ‘make, take, waste’ approach. Companies need to implementlong-term sustainability strategies that meet ambitions for a circulareconomy. Fashion Positive’s Circular Materials Guidelines are critical tohelping the industry and leaders align on expectations and systems requiredto start moving towards circularity and creating systems change.”

The fashion industry equates to an estimated 10 percent of globalemissions, consuming 79 million litres of water and creating 92 millionmetric tonnes of waste annually.

Sasha Radovich, executive director of Fashion Positive, commented:“These guidelines are the first step on the road to more circular fibercreation and use. We are not looking to create new or differentrequirements that are hard for the industry to meet. Rather we are lookingto harness the great work taking place to make the industry cleaner, safer,and more resilient. Through the guidelines, we will help create coherenceand a roadmap to drive a path toward action, innovation, and systemschange. The Circular Materials Guidelines help us have a common language sowe can move together faster.”

La Rhea Pepper from Textile Exchange, said: “The Circular MaterialsGuidelines will help the different sectors of the industry make decisions,set goals, and continuously improve.”

The aim of these guidelines are to create a circular economy which willreduce the negative impact the fashion industry has on the planet.

Peter Majeranowski, president and co-founder of Tyton BioSciences LLC,said: “These Guidelines are critical for the industry to actualisecircularity beyond commitments. As innovators, it is crucial that we have acircularity blueprint that has been developed collaboratively with keystakeholder brands. It presents us with clear targets and guidelines whileproviding confidence to the investor community that there is a tangiblepath forward.”

Fashion Positive and Textile Exchange are hosting a webinar onSeptember 23 to present the Circular Materials Guidelines.

Photo credit: Fashion Positive, Facebook