A new report published by the American Circular Textiles group sets out what it describes as the gaps in circular fashion domestically with proposals for policy solutions.

The American Circular Textiles (ACT) group has published its first whitepaper in the hope of identifying strategic bipartisan public policy objectives that will help to support a circular fashion economy in the US.

The coalition of organisations, which includes fashion retailer H&M as well as Reformation, Debrand, Rent The Runway, The RealReal and thredUP, states in the introduction of the report:

“In this paper, we describe the domestic policy opportunity to address fashion’s pollution contributions through increased support of circular fashion models. We summarise fashion’s environmental, financial, and health impacts on our communities, and explain how circular fashion presents a necessary and urgent improvement to the linear take-make-waste business model.

“We consider the benefits of increasing US consumer demand for reuse, and further enabling businesses and individuals to participate in resale, while building markets that do not yet exist at scale, like textile recycling. Finally, we propose public policy that will support fashion circularity, and explain how it will protect US supply chains, support economic competitiveness, enable job creation and empower consumers.”

ACT executive director and founder of Circular Services Group, Rachel Kibbe adds that the paper is introducing policymakers to the complexity of problems in the fashion industry and shows how public policy solutions align with their goals to support US jobs, consumers and supply chains.

She believes the paper is the first of its kind and hopes to fill a void while launching a discussion about solutions.

The report addresses ACT’s key policy priorities to support scalable change in the US circular fashion economy including providing green jobs, protecting domestic supply chains, offering value and sustainability to consumers and focusing on the waste hierarchy where incineration and landfill are the last resort.

It also outlines that it wants to encourage bipartisan efforts to support the development of circular fashion markets.

Plus, it wants to encourage consumers to call on policymakers to push forth aligned legislation, embolden brand leadership to shift from linear to circular business models, and encourage philanthropic entities and aligned stakeholders to engage with and support its mission.

Changing US public policy towards the circular fashion economy

In terms of changing public policy, ACT sees an immediate opportunity to catalyse domestic circular fashion, with a focus on the waste hierarchy, in the same way that public policy initially bolstered clean energy manufacturing, deployment, and transportation models.

The report explains: “One of our primary objectives is to support short- and long-term policy solutions, including at the federal, state, and municipal levels.

Today, we advocate for policy changes that meet communities, consumers, and businesses where they currently are, through incentivising businesses and consumers to participate in circularity, capturing the federal potential, and building on public policy that has worked to promote circularity in other sectors. In the future, we envision an interlocking set of policies that enable the full transition to a circular fashion system.”

ACT’s summary of what it believes

1.     Responsible fashion industry oversight can produce economic and sustainable environmental outcomes

2.     Textile waste is costly

3.     Education is key

4.     Circular businesses generate US jobs

5.     Companies can grow sustainably

6.     The waste hierarchy is important

7.     Funding circular solutions will level the playing field

8.     Circularity is by design

9.     Fashion circularity standards and definitions are needed.

ACT is keen to encourage more organisations to join its coalition and share the report and states: “Now is the time to capitalise on existing momentum and enact public policy that will support the US economy and protect our communities.”

By Just Style