A new renewable textiles hub has launched in the UK. The government-funded site will look to turn used garments, crop residue and household waste into renewable feedstocks to create new, usable textiles.
The Textiles Circularity Centre (TCC) was established by a Royal College of Art-led consortium, and was given £5.4m in government funding in November last year to aid its creation. As well as reducing waste in the textiles industry, the initiative aims to create new supply chains in service of the circular economy, and reduce the UK’s reliance on imported materials.
The centre is one of five that received funding from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centres Programme – with the others looking at industries such as construction and chemical production. The programme seeks to identify how reusing waste materials can boost the country’s economy, while simultaneously bettering its environmental footprint. It is the largest UKRI investment looking at the circular economy to date – representing a £30m investment into circular economy research hubs.
In a statement, Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “Creating a more circular economy for our waste and resources lies at the heart of this government’s transformative agenda for the environment, and we are committed to going further and faster to reduce, reuse and recycle more of our resources.”
The fashion industry is a major contributor to global carbon emissions – making up 4% of annual CO2 emissions. Fast fashion is a huge driver of this, with some estimates showing around 921,000 tonnes of used textiles are thrown away each year. As such, tapping into recycling and reusing in this sector would be a major step forward for the UK.
In a statement on the centre’s launch, UK Fashion & Textile Association CEO Adam Mansell said: “There is a real opportunity for the UK fashion and textile industry to become a leader in circular supply chains and to harness the full benefits that UK manufacturing can offer.”
The construction-based hub has similarly ambitious plans to reduce waste – with hopes it will drive UK construction minerals extraction down by more than half a million tonnes per day, as well as reduce the generation of 154 million tonnes of mineral waste each year.
