Back to Baselines in Circular Fashion & Textiles

The fashion and textile sector is a major contributor to UK GDP, but the global industry is a major contributor to carbon emissions and other negative environmental impacts, including generation of thousands of tonnes of textile waste incinerated/landfilled in the UK every year. With UK fashion consumption continuing to rise, there is a pressing need to develop strategy for sustainable transformation, which means first establishing a clear picture of the current state of the industry's full environmental impacts, particularly as it relates to the UK. This large interdisciplinary Network will determine how to assess, evidence, and monitor the sustainability credentials of current and proposed practices across the fashion and textile industry to ensure congruence with Net Zero targets. The work will identify the sectoral, disciplinary, technical, cultural, and skills-based barriers to transitioning to more sustainable practices, as well as those areas where specific interventions could result in the highest impacts, to decide where best to target future innovation and priorities. The Network will also take account of ongoing disconnects between design, manufacturing, retail, use and end-of-life disposal that contribute to environmental impacts. A robust, accurate and honest picture of the current 'baseline' position of the industry will be presented, from which the best strategy to meet Net Zero and other mandated targets can be based.