October 4-7, 2016

CIRCULARITY AS A SYSTEM
TEXTILE EXCHANGE ANNUAL CONFERENCE
OCTOBER 5, 2016
Moderator:
Jeff Wilson,
Director-
Business Value Nicole Bassett,
Strategy & Co-Founder, The
Development, Renewal
Textile Exchange Workshop

Speakers:
Maura Dilley, Christin Gloeckner,
Community of Team
Practice Management
Manager, Cradle R&D, Hohenstein
to Cradle Institute
Products
Innovation
Institute
 TODAY’S AGENDA:

- INTRODUCTION AND TOPIC FRAMING

- PANELIST PRESENTATIONS

- PANEL DISCUSSION/AUDIENCE Q&A

- HANDS-ON INTERACTIVE EXERCISE

 TODAY’S OBJECTIVES:
- INFORM ABOUT CIRCULAR SYSTEMS
AND CONCEPTS
- UNDERSTAND CURRENT
DEVELOPMENTS AND
OPPORTUNITIES
- BE AWARE OF KEY OBSTACLES AND
CHALLENGES
- INSPIRE TO MAKE CHANGE AT YOUR
ORGANIZATION NOW AND IN THE
FUTURE
Backdrop – the Textile Industry Value Network
Dyers, Finished Agents &
Raw
Weavers & Printers, Materials Goods Trading
material Spinners Brands Retailers
Knitters Finishers, & “Converter” Assemblers Companies
suppliers
Laminators (+ Trims)

Brands with
Strong Retail

mega
cut/sew
Could be any
combination of
organizations
upstream in the
supply chain to
produce finished
materials

x1000s

mega
mega factory complex from greige to trading Large
garment company retailer w/
private
Dyes, Dyestuff
Polymers, Lubricants, Sizing agents, Detergents, brand(s)
auxiliaries,
Fertilizers, Dyes, Preparation Conditioning
Coatings,
Pesticides, Auxiliaries, agents, agents,
Repellents,
Impurities etc. etc. Carriers, etc. Treatments, etc.
etc.
Chemical
“Converter” and/or
“Trader”

Chemical
blender/mixer

Chemical synthesizer
o Originally created by
Matt Thurston, REI with
further modifications
by Kevin Myette,
Raw chemical supplier bluesign
EVOLVING TO A
CIRCULAR,
NETWORK BASED
SYSTEM THAT
WE’RE HERE TO
INFORM ABOUT
AND ADVOCATE
FOR
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
& FASHION POSITIVE
Maura Dilley
Fashion Positive Community Manager
OUR TEAM

Lewis Perkins Annie Gullingsrud Maura Dilley

President Director of Fashion & Textiles Sector Fashion Positive Community Manager
Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute

Laurin Guthrie Kika Hazan

Materials Assistant Administrative Assistant
Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation
Institute
SUSTAINABLE,
TAKE BACK,
CLOSED LOOP

Brands Suppliers
 CIRCULAR APPAREL
Foundations
Piloting partners
Designers
Collection
+ Sorting
Funders
Chemical
companies
Suppliers
Brands
Schools +
Universities Spinners

Supportive
Fiber producers
policy
Logistics Innovators / Material developers
WASTE IS DESIGNED OUT

Optimize resource yields by circulating products, components,

and materials at the highest utility at all times in both technical
and biological cycles.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation works to inspire a generation to re-
think, re-design and build a positive future circular economy.
DIVERSITY BUILDS
STRENGTH
Circular economies needs a balance of various scales of
businesses to thrive in the long term.
PRODUCT OWNERSHIP
BECOMES SERVICE
LEASING
OPTIMIZE RESOURCE
YIELDS
Optimize resource yields by circulating products, components,
and materials at the highest utility at all times in both technical
and biological cycles.
ELIMINATE ENVIRONMENTAL
DEGRADATION
Identify and eliminate harvesting or manufacturing processes that
degrade, destroy or permanently diminish natural resources.
THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
RUNS ON RENEWABLE
ENERGY AND SOCIAL
FAIRNESS
Circular economies needs a balance of various
scales of businesses to thrive in the long term.
SYSTEMS THINKING IS
APPLIED BROADLY IN
THE CIRCULAR
ECONOMY
In order to effectively
transition to the circular
economy, links and
consequences within and
across systems are always
taken into consideration.
THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
MEANS TRUE COST
ACCOUNTING
Prices and other feedback mechanisms should reflect true costs.
CRADLE TO CRADLE
CERTIFIED™
The Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Product Standard rates products
across five quality categories:

RENEWABLE ENERGY
Power industry with renewable energy.
MATERIAL HEALTH
Select materials known to be safe for humans and the
environment. CLEAN WATER
Treat water as a precious resource and clean water
as an essential human right.
MATERIAL REUSE
Identify where the product and the materials
it’s made of go after use.
SOCIAL FAIRNESS
Honor all natural systems and the people involved
in creating products.
MATERIAL HEALTH

• Identify materials as either biological or

technical nutrients

• Understand how chemical hazards combine

with likely exposures to determine
potential threats to human health and the
environment certified
MATERIAL REUTILIZATION
• Maximize the percentage of rapidly
renewable materials or recycled content
used in a product

• Maximize the percentage of materials that

can be safely reused, recycled,
or composted at the product’s end of use
RECYCLED FIBERS
Using recycled fibers achieves ecological benefits:

1. It slows the depletion of virgin natural resources.

2. It reduces textile waste building in landfills.

3. Recycled textiles have the potential to ease the pressure

industrialized farming places on the land to yield more virgin
fiber.

4. It’s just smart!

MECHANICAL
RECYCLING
A process that involves chopping the fibers, blending them with
virgin fiber and respinning them to form new yarns.

• Mechanical recycling • Most inputs for recycled

exists NOW polyester come from PET
• Turns waste materials into bottles
yarns for new garments • Downcycled
RECYCLING CHALLENGES
FOR CIRCULAR FASHION
• While most fibers are technically recyclable, there are few
existing technologies to actually recycle them.

• Blended fibers can only be downcycled.

• We cycle contaminants with the fibers. Mechanical

recycling cannot process out contaminants which then
move into subsequent generations.
CLEAN IN, CLEAN OUT
Circular fashion is not possible without circular materials.
CHEMICAL RECYCLING
A process that takes biological, technical or blended fibers back to
their original constituent chemical parts.

In development

• Can recreate virgin quality fibers.

• Potential for closed system for chemicals.
• Potential for scalability and high volume.
• Opportunity to separate out contaminants and additives.
• Potential for separation of blended fibers.
• Recycling back to raw materials that enables fibers to be made
again.
COLLABORATE TO
CIRCULATE:
Fashion Positive
PLUS
PLUS is a community of pioneering brands, designers and
suppliers collaborating to catalyze systems change in fashion
industry by transforming one material at a time.

• Collaborate to identify shared interest and priorities

• Collaborate to accelerate and scale material innovations
and technologies (i.e. Chemical recycling)
COLLABORATE
TO CIRCULATE
The apparel industry is
linear.
Clothing is designed for use,
not for recycling.
• Higg Index score – End of Use
• Resource Efficiency
• Reduce Landfill
• Future feedstock from old clothes
• New Business Opportunities
• Industry Pressure
• Customer Pressure
Brand
MATERIALS FLOW

PHYSICAL

INFORMATIONAL
CREATING A CIRCULAR
SYSTEM
EPA Waste Hierarchy Ellen Macarthur Foundation
 Maximizing Value

Renew Reuse Recycle

Post Customer Supply Chain
What was once thought of as
trash can be refurbished to
become a New Consumer
Product Category
RENEWED APPAREL
@RenewalWorkshop
FOUNDING PARTNERS
 COMMERCIAL LAUNCH

August – October November 2016

2016

Opportunity to pre-order TRW online marketplace

Renewed Apparel goes live to sell Renewed
Apparel
 Informational Flows

Upcycle/
Recycle/
Brands Downcycle
supply chain
 Understanding Recycling

250

200

150

100

50

100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Unknown 2 or More

Cashmere Cotton Nylon Organic Polyester Wool Combined
Cotton
 The circular economy
happens here.

CLOTHING CONTINUOUSLY REMADE

New approaches towards a sustainable
textile industry of tomorrow

B. Eng. Christin Glöckner

Textile Exchange – Circular Economy

COMPETENCE IN TEXTILES
No. 50

William Küster Institute

for Hygiene, Environment & Medicine
No. 51

We are interested in interactions & implications

product humans
No. 52

We are interested in interactions & implications

product environment
No. 54

Life cycle assessment in the „textile chain“

Distribution Retail

Manufacture Usage

Fiber production

Disposal

Return
No. 55

Small sustainability „biodegradation“

Big

Small
No. 56

At the end of the life cycle…

• Evaluation of biodegradability and

deterioration of fabrics (apparel,
technical textiles) and biopolymers
• Testing the biodegradation under
standardized lab or outdoor
conditions
• Biodegradation vs. composting
• Analysis of degradation products
• Environmental impact
No. 57

Standardized evaluation of biodegradation

Method: Soil burial test

• Material degrading by living micro-organisms in the soil
• Excavation and evaluation of visible residues
• Evaluation of the environmental impacts of residues in soil

Soil burial Visual evaluation (here after 6, 8,10 weeks)

No. 58

Soil burial under lab conditions

Comparative assessment – technical report:
• Defined burial time
• Calculation of the mass change
• Visual assessment of the material
• Laboratory examinations (residues, cress growth)

Mass degradation [% weight] Ecotoxicology: Water/earth organisms, plants

No. 59

Outdoor soil burial tests

• Realistic assessment, sustainable discharge

• Learning characteristics of "decay properties„
• Product optimization and determination of risks

Following principles of
• EN ISO 11721-1: 2001/04
• EN ISO 846: 1997/06
• DIN EN 13432: 2000/12
No. 60

Future prospects

• Sustainability solution specifically for

your products
• Ensure the sustainable disposal of
products
• Environmental safety
No. 61

New products for bioeconomy

• Product innovation – environmental dalphin pile
(“Bark mulch meets wools”)
• Life cycle assessment based of 3R principle
• Raw materials: vegetabiles, sheep wool
• Production: environmentally friendly
• End of life - zero waste
No. 62

Thank you for your kind attention!

If you have any questions -

please feel free to contact us

Christin Glöckner
Hohenstein Institute
Schloss Hohenstein
74357 Bönnigheim
Telefon +49 7143 271 445
Fax +49 7143 271 445
E-Mail [email protected]
www.hohenstein.de
October 4-7, 2016