e-Waste Update: Continued Progress With a Chance of Disruption

Circle Economy has unveiled a resource – Circular Toolbox – to help apparel brands interested in circular business models that extend the practical lifetime of clothes, to design and launch a rental or resale business model pilot on their own in under a year. Circle Economy helps businesses, cities and governments transition to a circular economy.
The Circular Toolbox is a free, online, step-by-step guide. Apparel brands of all sizes interested in circular business models that extend the practical lifetime of clothes can now use Circle Economy’s ‘Circular Toolbox’ to get a rental or resale pilot off the ground in under a year. Circular business models, such as resale and rental, offer commercial opportunities for brands to innovate their business model while expanding the practical service life of clothing – allowing brands to do more with less. When intelligently designed, they can also reduce the total environmental impact of the industry.
“The fashion industry’s sustainability efforts thus far have been dominated by a focus on sustainable materials. While this is a very important driver for impact reduction, with a growing population that is consuming at hyperspeed, it’s becoming blatantly clear that a shift toward using sustainable materials alone is not going to cut it. Increasing the utilisation of our garments is considered one of the most effective ways to reduce the overall impact of the clothing industry. Resale, rental and subscription models promise to do just this: optimise the lifetime and active use of garments and provide pathways to…