Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) recently held a Global Fashion Summit in Riyadh, where keynote speaker William McDonough, chief executive officer of McDonough Innovation, urged attendees “to consider the impact of consumer choices on the environment and on future generations.”

As sustainability has become an increasingly hot topic—and one driven by existing and future regulatory environments—the focus in textiles and packaging, as well as other industries, has been on things like using more bio-based materials, buying carbon credits, increasing recyclability and the like. But now as you read the news, from both traditional and trade publications, you are seeing the word “circularity” or “circular life cycle” appearing more commonly.

First, let’s define those terms. Circularity refers to a system or process where resources are used and reused in a continuous loop, minimizing waste and maximizing value. It’s the opposite of the traditional linear model, where resources are extracted, used, and then discarded, which has been the modus operandi across the globe for far too long, a key contributor to getting us where we are with climate change.