Guide
Reverse Resources: circulating textiles
Created by
Reverse Resources
,
2024
An estimated 92 million tons of textile waste are created every year1. Currently, less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled and made into new clothing at the end of its life2.
How do we make the transition to a circular fashion system — where materials never become waste, nature is regenerated, and responsibility is taken for the product’s entire lifecycle and its impact on the planet?
In this case study we explore how
Reverse Resources has built a commercial circular solution so that textile products can be used and reused, keeping them for as long as possible. Discover how they address the sheer volume of textile waste that is produced before products even hit the shelves.
The issue
Of the total fibre input used for clothing, as much as 10% of material is lost during garment production (e.g. as offcuts). Meanwhile, 2% is sent to landfill or incineration from garments that are produced, yet never make it to market.3 Scaling up fibre-to-fibre recycling retains the materials’ valuable resources by using them to create new fibre for new yarn and material. This is inscribed in a circular system so that designers can source low impact materials.
The solution
Reverse Resources tackles the scalability issues in textile recycling caused by limited access to high-quality waste, inaccurate market statistics that can result in overproduction of materials, inflated prices due to current waste handling practices, and inefficient supply chains.
Pre-consumer textile is a high-quality resource that should never become waste. The solution they offer is to provide data transparency by digitising textile waste flows and supply chains.
Reverse Resources are demonstrating a new data-driven business case for the industry and enabling trustworthy real-time collaboration between large networks of industry stakeholders such as brands, manufacturers, waste handlers, and recyclers.
The business model is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that matches textile waste with recycling solutions, enabling accountability through transparency and building data-driven supply chains.
Credit: Reverse Resources
Fibre-to-fibre recycling consists of turning waste materials and products into fibres, and then into yarns and fabrics. This allows the fibres to become new products like garments and furniture. Considering that currently less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled and made into new clothing at the end of its life4, it is clear that identifying, handling, and dealing with waste is not easy. How does Reverse Resources tackle such a complex mission?
Their digital platform can standardise processes and support the global scaling-up of fibre-to-fibre recycling. This platform offers access to four roles:
- Supplier: Generates waste with detailed background information (e.g. garment factories, post-consumer sorting facilities)
- Handler: Processes waste before recycling (e.g. fibre sorting, quality checks)
- Recycler: Uses pre-processed waste to produce high-quality materials
- Brand: Maps and traces their waste flows
Each party has a private data room to control data sharing and collaboration. Reverse Resources ensures standardised processes and data verification to facilitate smart decision-making. The focus is on pre-consumer textile waste, especially 100% cotton, polyester, and polyester-cotton blends. The goal is to track existing textile waste flows even without immediate fibre-to-fibre recycling solutions, to increase transparency and traceability of textile waste supply chains.
In other words, their system disrupts traditional waste handling, demonstrates new business opportunities for brands, restructures supply chains, builds transparency, and communicates market barriers to policymakers.
The opportunities
Asia accounts for some 60% of global exports of garments and textiles5. The Asia Pacific textile recycling market was valued at US$1.8 billion in 20236, and keeps growing with ambitious goals. For example, by 2030, China aims to be able to recycle 30% of its textile waste and produce 3 million tons of recycled fibre annually.7
Credit: Reverse Resources
Reverse Resources collaborates with over 50 brands, including H&M Group, C&A, Bestseller, and PVH, and traces textile waste to 15+ major fibre-to-fibre recyclers from hundreds of factories in real-time. In 2021, they partnered on a project led by the Global Fashion Agenda to capture and direct post-consumer fashion waste back into the production of new fashion products. Reverse Resources will continue to expand in Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka — encompassing some of the world’s largest clothing exporters.8
The challenges
There are challenges in dealing with textile ‘waste’. We are producing more fashion than ever before — much more than we can consume — and the problem is getting worse. By 2030, global apparel consumption is projected to rise by 63%9, and the fashion industry’s waste will increase by about 60%. 10
Credit: Reverse Resources
Challenges for Reverse Resources include engaging with informal actors, facing reluctance to share data on waste, and finding incentives for transparency. There is also a lack of awareness and clear policy direction on social compliance in the waste-handling sector. This is an important point to address because of legislation such as the European Union’s ‘Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles’, which will impact sourcing decisions.
What’s next?
Looking ahead, the vision is to increase global presence and address post-consumer textile waste. Long-term, this means being able to trace complex waste compositions while innovative recyclers build plants in key areas. This will most likely lead to developing new platform functionalities, such as enabling purchase orders directly on the platform.
To transition to a circular fashion system, everyone has a part to play, from farmers to fashionistas, financiers, designers, brands, suppliers, governments, nonprofits, and waste collectors. As fashion designers, you must consider how your design decisions will impact the entire lifecycle of the product, including its recyclability.
Here are some tips for you to be part of an efficient circular fashion system:
- Implement digital traceability: Use platforms like RR for waste mapping and tracing.
- Collaborate with recyclers and waste handlers: Ensure waste is segregated and available for sourcing, allowing supply chains to be optimised and costs reduced.
- Adopt and promote social compliance: Adhere to social compliance standards and support audits.
- Support the formalisation of waste handling: Encourage digital traceability and improved working conditions.
- Create closed-loop products: Responsibility for a product’s end-of-life means ensuring that you create recyclable products and are able to source recycled materials to keep the loop going.
- Future-proof your operations: Review how you can best mitigate risks by preparing for new regulations like the European Union’s ‘Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles’.
Given the sheer volume of textile waste that we produce, it’s imperative that commercial circular solutions such as Reverse Resources come together so that textile products can be used and reused, keeping them for as long as possible. When they can no longer serve their purpose, they should be recycled.
About the Contributor
Credit: Reverse Resources
Reverse Resources launched in 2016 with a mission to create a feasible systemic shift for the industry to reduce its dependency on virgin materials and fibres. Their proprietary SaaS platform digitises, connects, and scales global textile-to-textile recycling.
Footnotes
1 Global Fashion Agenda and The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (2017), Pulse of the Fashion Industry
2 House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee (2019), Fixing Fashion: Clothing Consumption and Sustainability
3 Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017), A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion’s Future
4 House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee (2019), Fixing Fashion: Clothing Consumption and Sustainability
5 World Trade Organization, World Trade Statistical Review 2023
6 Asia Pacific Textile Recycling Market Report by Product Type (Cotton Recycling, Wool Recycling, Polyester & Polyester Fibre Recycling, Nylon & Nylon Fibre Recycling, and Others), Textile Waste (Pre-consumer Textile, Post-consumer Textile), Distribution Channel (Online Channel, Retail & Departmental Stores), End Use (Apparel, Industrial, Home Furnishings, Non-woven, and Others), and Country 2024–2032
7 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) for National Economic and Social Development and Vision 2035 of the People’s Republic of China
8 Between 2015 and 2022, the world’s largest clothing exporters by value remain China, the European Union, Bangladesh, Turkey, Vietnam and India, according to the World Trade Organization, World Trade Statistical Review 2023
9 Global Fashion Agenda & Boston Consulting Group, Pulse of the Fashion Industry (2017)
10 Global Fashion Agenda & Boston Consulting Group, Pulse of the Fashion Industry (2017)