What: Three British organisations have joined forces to scale up the use of circular solutions like rental, repair, resale and recycling.

Why it is important: The Fashion and Footwear industries are trying to become more and more sustainable.

The fashion and footwear industries are increasingly recognizing the importance of circular business models for sustainability. However, there are significant barriers to adopting these models. To address this, a new initiative called Repurpose is launching in the UK. It's a collaboration between circularity platforms Recomme and ACS, along with the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT). Repurpose aims to be a "one-stop shop" for circularity, combining sorting software with rental, resale, and repair services, as well as developing recycling solutions for old fibers. This initiative seeks to simplify the process for brands and retailers, increase efficiency, and provide data to scale up circular solutions. Repurpose will partner with external companies for textile recycling, including Iinouiio for wool and cashmere recycling. While challenges exist, such as the lack of textile recycling technologies at scale, Repurpose plans to invest in existing startups and pilot new technologies. The initiative will be funded by private investors, supplemented by government grants.

New UK hub promises to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for circular fashion