It seems that all of the chatter about the textiles industry and its poor sustainability performance might be having some impact. While there are significant issues with pollution, including plastic microfibers, dyes, emissions, etc., one of the biggest problems is waste, especially the waste that ends up in landfills. And there’s a lot of it. Not only does this fill up landfills with materials that could be used otherwise, but as they degrade, they add methane emissions to the mix as well.

This is why circularity in the industry is important. According to McKinsey, “Ever since the Industrial Revolution, we’ve consumed products in largely the same way. A company will extract or collect the resources to create a product, which consumers then buy, use, and ultimately throw away. This is known as a linear model of mass consumption.…Circularity refers to practices that optimize resource use and minimize waste across the entire production and consumption cycle, emphasizing sustainability and economic efficiency.” Nowhere is this more needed than in textiles and apparel. McKinsey continues, speaking of the linear model, “We know now that this model of consumption has contributed to the changes in our climate that, if left unaddressed, threaten to make life much more difficult in coming decades. Every year, some $2.6 trillion worth of material in fast-moving consumer goods—80% of the material value—is thrown away and never recovered.”

We’ve long been saying that it’s consumers who will ultimately make a big difference in reducing waste, especially that generated by fast fashion, as they begin to change their buying habits, and that seems to be happening, especially among the younger generations. One area where there seems to be a lot of action is in the second-hand market. Here are a few examples: