Circularity Index: Choosing the Right Metric for Apparel

After more than 30 years in the apparel industry, I’ve spent a lot of time on the “front end” of the business—building brands, developing products, and creating apparel for the likes of GoreTex, Timberland and Under Armour. I’m immensely proud of my career and the opportunities I’ve had to meet fantastic people in the industry. But over the last few years, my perspective has shifted dramatically. Now, I’ve become increasingly focused on the "back end" of the textile system, and the sobering reality of what happens to our clothes after we've finished with them. For too long, the fashion and textile industry has operated in a linear model: we take, we make, and we dispose. This has created a massive, unsustainable problem. The numbers are staggering. Every year, 92 million tonnes of textile waste are produced globally, and less than 1% of this is recycled into new clothes. To put that into perspective, at the current rate of consumption and disposal, experts warn we would need two planets to sustain humanity by 2030. This is the system Reju was founded to fix. We are not a fashion company; we are a materials regeneration company. Our mission is to create a new, end-to-end circular textile system that keeps textiles in use indefinitely. That is why our team of leading engineers and scientists, with technology originating from IBM research and backed by Technip Energies, has created a process that can chemically address these complex textile mixes. The result is Reju Polyester™, a material that is better than new and can be recirculated for generations. But a technological solution alone isn’t enough. We have to change the way people think about textile waste and show them that a solution is not only possible but is already here.  This is the very purpose of our new augmented reality (AR) experience, which we are proud to be launching during Climate Week NYC, directly in New York City. We want to bring the abstract concepts of “textile regeneration” and the “circular economy” to life. With this experience, you can point your device at a pile of textile waste and watch it transform into the clean, high-quality materials of the future. It’s a powerful visualization of our three-step process: Recover waste before it enters the waste stream, Regenerate it into materials that are better than new, and Recirculate these materials infinitely.  The AR experience is more than a novelty. It is a tool for education and inspiration, designed to spark a conversation and inspire action. We believe that by making the solution tangible and interactive, we can help people see waste not as an ending but as a resource with infinite possibilities.  I invite you to experience this for yourself and join us in reimagining the future of textiles. Make sure to share your photos with us and tag #Reju. Let’s do this. 👊 https://ar.reju.com/ #RejuClimateWeek #CircularEconomy #TextileTruth #SustainableInnovation #ClimateAction #TextileRegeneration

Grow With Ephea 2025 | Jury Dr. Hakan Karaosman A global thought leader in supply chain sustainability, Dr. Hakan Karaosman brings scientific rigor and visionary insight to Grow With Ephea. Recognized by Vogue Business and Greenpeace Italia, and awarded by Cardiff University and the Financial Times, his groundbreaking research and collaborations with the UN and top fashion players are shaping a more resilient, just, and sustainable industry. Dr. Karaosman’s expertise elevates the conversation around circular systems and climate action, perfectly aligning with the mission of Grow With Ephea to empower designers reimagining fashion’s future with innovation and responsibility. Dr. Hakan Karaosman Associate Professor at Politecnico di Milano Dr. Hakan Karaosman is a globally renowned and award-winning expert in supply chain sustainability, with a particular focus on fashion and textiles. He is currently an Associate Professor at Politecnico di Milano. Recognized as a thought leader, Dr. Karaosman was included in the Vogue Business 100 Innovators: class of 2023 for his contributions to sustainability. Greenpeace Italia honoured him as a Voice for the Climate in 2023, and Cardiff University celebrated his achievements with its Excellence in Sustainability Award. Their paper “For the many not the few: Introducing just transition for supply chain management” was one of the most downloaded articles in the International Journal of Productions & Operations Management in 2024. Their research project, FReSCH, won the Financial Times’ Responsible Business Education award in 2025. His work is frequently featured in top-tier international media, including Financial Times, Forbes, Reuters, The Guardian, Vogue Italia, Vogue Business, Business of Fashion, and many others. A sought-after keynote speaker, Dr. Karaosman addresses global audiences at high-profile events. His extensive body of work includes widely cited academic publications, book chapters, industry reports, and teaching cases. Collaborating with organizations like the UN, NGOs, and leading fashion companies, he actively drives initiatives addressing sustainability, supply chain resilience, and climate change. Grow With Ephea is a global open call for fashion designers. All projects must be submitted by November 30. 🔗 For further information and submission guidelines, please visit ephea.bio.

5 Myths About Circular Apparel That Stop Companies From Acting We talk a lot about circularity but too often, brands hesitate because of misconceptions that don’t match today’s reality. Let’s set the record straight 👇 1️⃣ “It’s too expensive.” Circular design saves resources in the long run. Waste is costly — efficiency isn’t. 2️⃣ “It means compromising on quality.” Circular products are built to last, repair, and recycle. It's all about quality. 3️⃣ “Consumers don’t care.”. Of course they do — especially when you make circularity visible, tangible, and authentic. 4️⃣ “It’s too complex to start.” Complexity comes from trying to do everything at once. Start small. One product, one process, one pilot. 5️⃣ “It’s just a marketing story.” Circularity is not a trend — it’s a redesign of how fashion works. And the earlier you adapt, the stronger your business resilience. And circularity is simpler than you think. It’s about rethinking resources, not reinventing your identity. At Circlo, we help brands take that first step — from intention to action. Don't wait anymore, talk to us. #CircularFashion #Sustainability #Innovation #FashionIndustry #MakeTime #Circlo #CircularDesign

🌱 Sustainability Is No Longer a Trend — It’s Fashion’s Biggest Innovation. The biggest shift in the fashion industry today is not in silhouettes or colors — it’s in how garments are made. Innovation is now happening at the fiber level, the dyeing stage, and even in waste. ✅ Recycled polyester from ocean plastics is becoming mainstream. ✅ Waterless dyeing technologies are reducing chemical impact. ✅ Circular fashion models are turning discarded textiles into new fabrics. Global consumers no longer ask “What does it look like?” They ask, “What’s the story behind it?” The future of fashion will not be defined by how fast we produce —but by how responsibly we create. And that’s where sourcing partners like Texroot Sourcing step in — not just to supply products, but to enable responsible innovation. #SustainableFashion #CircularEconomy #InnovationInTextiles #EcoDesign #FutureOfFashion

If your products fall apart after one season, how can you call them sustainable? Last year I bought my daughter a nicer pyjamas that had ( from what I could read) all the right certifications and the "right eco-labeling". A couple of days ago it broke in the fabric (not the seam) at the back. If a product breaks after one season - it's no longer sustainable. You can use organic cotton, recycled polyester, or whatever recycled, biobased/biodegradable fabric - but if your products break, shrink, pill, or fade after a few wears, they’re just waste. Apparently 50% of apparel is discarded because of quality problems like shrinking, fading, or breakage in the seams - not because people stopped liking it (Ellen MacArthur Foundation). So if you’re serious about circularity and sustainability, the first question isn’t “what fabric should we use?” but “will this product actually last?” Here’s how to design products that don’t fall appart after one season: - Durability first – choose quality fabrics, reinforce seams, and test products both in the lab and on humans. - Timeless over trendy – create designs customers actually want to keep wearing. - Design with repairability in mind - make it possible to fix, replace parts, or refresh. - Have clear care instructions – if your customer doesn’t know how to properly care for the product, it won’t last. - Traceability + testing data - have data to back your decisions and use this data for coming collections and designs. If you want to create long-lasting circular products but don't have the framework and have no idea where to begin - we at Desinder facilitate inhouse team workshops. It gives you a clear strategy, blueprint and task list on how to tansition your development to creating long-lasting circular products. Dm for more info if interested. So are you designing for longevity - or just for the next drop? #sustainability #circularity #productdevelopment #workshop

QUALITY FIRST The question is key : “how can you declare products #sustainable when they fall apart shortly? 🫢🤷 Long lasting performance is the most sustainable value products must have. Instead of “everyday low price” and fast consume which is the market approach used by companies , also the brand ones.

The textile industry is stuck in a DANGEROUS design loop. A new study from the Technical University of Denmark proves it: even when we think garments are recyclable, the reality says otherwise. ⚠ 618 fibre blends in just one season. Recycling machines cannot keep up.  ⚠ Disruptors like zips, linings and trims in more than half of garments. Manual removal is slow, costly and unscalable.  ⚠ Polyester dominates production but rarely in pure form, killing high-quality recycling potential. On paper, 20 percent of textiles look recyclable. In reality, that drops to 11 percent. And for fibre-to-fibre recycling at the highest quality? Just 1.8 percent make the cut. The conclusion is clear: collecting more clothes will not save us. Circularity must start at design stage. ♻ Designers. Brands. Policymakers. This is your wake-up call. 👉 Plus, if you’re looking to future-proof your fashion collections, don’t miss our Circular Design Workshop, a hands-on program (developed with a former Senior Circular Product Specialist at Tommy Hilfiger) that equips your team with eco-design principles, practical tools, and real-life case studies to future-proof your collections. Stay tuned for more info. #TheCircleClub #FashionWithImpact #CollectiveAction #RegenerativeFashion #CommunityOfChangemakers #circulareconomy #circularfashion #sustainablefashion #zerowaste #sustainability #impactdriven #upcycle #ethicalfashion #reuse #collaborativefashion #FashionForGood #CircularTogether #ProfitWithPurpose #CircularFuture

Last month at the House of Lords, the Circular Economy Exchange brought together voices from across fashion, retail, and sustainability to talk honestly about what needs to change — and how we can make circularity work in practice. In this short video, Joe Little highlights how much value is locked inside returned products — and how recovering raw materials can give them a second life instead of sending them to waste. A clear reminder that circular design isn’t theory — it’s opportunity. #CircularEconomyExchange #Sustainability #Innovation #Returns #RawMaterials #InsideTheExchange

🧵The Problem with “Recyclable” Fashion: Why Your Clothes Aren’t Getting Recycled… and probably never will. Let’s be honest. We’ve all seen fashion brands proudly label their clothes as "100% recyclable" - and it sounds like progress. But here’s the shocking reality: 🧺 Less than 1% of clothing is actually recycled into new clothing. Not because we don’t want to. But because - we can’t. Why? Because clothing isn’t made to be recycled. Most garments are a Frankenstein mix of materials: 🔹 Cotton-polyester blends 🔹 Elastane-infused knits 🔹 Coated finishes, dyes, zippers, trims These are nearly impossible to separate with current recycling technologies. Even when a shirt could be recycled, chances are it ends up in a bin, not a collection system. This means that “recyclable” clothing is often a marketing illusion - a comforting label with no real infrastructure to back it up. At ThinkCircular, we’re not just chasing buzzwords - we’re building systems. Because if there’s no infrastructure, no product stewardship, no design standards - there is no circularity. 🧠 Imagine if all garments were designed for disassembly. ♻ Imagine if the recycling process was integrated before the product was made. 🛑 And imagine if brands were responsible not just for selling, but for unmaking their products. Circular fashion isn’t just about intention. It’s about execution - and that’s where we need innovation, policy, and systems thinking. Otherwise, “recyclable” is just another form of greenwashing. Let’s build fashion that’s actually ready for its next life. #ThinkCircular #CircularFashion #Greenwashing #Sustainability #RecyclableButNotRecycled #FashionReform #ClosedLoop #SystemicChange #TextileWaste #CircularDesign

The circular fashion market is valued between $6 billion and $7.5 billion, with an annual growth rate of about 9 percent, indicating a shift toward sustainability. Such circular fashion challenges the traditional “take, make, dispose” model by offering solutions to the industry’s waste and environmental issues, but biobased materials must be substantiated. In this fireside chat, Min Zhu from global certification company SGS and Haley Gershon from Carbon-14 testing lab Beta Analytic explain what is needed. https://bit.ly/46rdlZw