Implementing a Circular Ecosystem from Post-consumer Textiles: New Cotton Project

The creation of circular solutions in the field of textile and fashion has been growing with regulation and policies increasingly pushing for changes in the field, however these developments tend to follow highly secretive paths due to intellectual property fears. The New Cotton Project (a European Union funded project composed of twelve partners based in Europe and Turkey) was then envisioned with the potential to create a roadmap which could in turn promote tools and stages for transitioning from linear means of production to sustainable and circular alternatives. The take-make-dispose culture is one of the biggest pitfalls of the textile industry and responses to it have been urged by consumers as well as other stakeholders. This paper brings forth the New Cotton Project’s experience and demonstrates, through a multi-level perspective how a fibre can change its role and encourage circular transitions. Developed using mixed methods of data collection and thorough analysis the paper presents indicators and barriers to achieving more sustainable production through the use of a circular ecosystem where partners collect post-consumer cellulosic products to supply a value chain which in turn delivers garment capsulate collections to the market. Finally, we confront the industrial reality, to the implementation experience, and the three influence levels perspective; proposing means to measure success and assess responsibility within the consortium, thus attempting to create an implementation framework for future projects, promoting knowledge sharing and awareness within the industry.