WRAP announces Circular Design Toolkit to help reduce textile’s environmental impact at the design level

WRAP’s Textiles 2030 agreement has launched its Circular Design Toolkit which will help textiles organisations embed circular design principles into their design and product development processes to maximise the life of garments, select the most sustainable materials and ensure they are designed to be recycled.  

The Circular Design Toolkit aims to simplify the theory of circular design and break it down into a framework of more manageable actions and strategies for design and product development teams to use.

Designed in collaboration with industry through the Textiles 2030’s Circular Design Working Group, it sets out case studies and examples of businesses already making progress against the four circular design pillars - reduce material impacts, optimise resources, design for longevity and design for recovery - to inspire further industry action.

Textiles 2030 signatories received early access to the Toolkit in February 2023 and many have already, or are planning to, use it to set circular design strategies. These businesses are industry pioneers, signposting the route for others to follow.

As The initiative that is helping them deliver this, Textiles 2030 now calls on brands outside of the agreement to disseminate the Toolkit with their design and product development teams so that more textile products can be designed to move through a circular system.

 Why is this needed?

The environmental impact of the textiles industry is demanding global attention, spurring governments around the world into action.

The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles is leading the way and includes the mandatory introduction of eco-design requirements in combination with Extended Producer Responsibility, eco-modulation fees and Digital Product Passports.

The Circular Design Toolkit will support brands to prepare for incoming regulation. While Textiles 2030, operating as an independent voice, plays a crucial role in enabling the industry to align its efforts and establish consistency throughout the value chain.

Catherine David, Director, Behaviour Change & Business Programmes at WRAP, said: “Using the expertise of Textiles 2030, WRAP is delighted to put the Circular Design Toolkit in front of wider industry. As we are aware, the environmental impact of the fashion industry is huge with 336 000 tonnes of clothes going to landfill each year. This guide can help brands design holistically with every stage of a product’s lifecycle in mind, allowing them to reduce its environmental impact every step of the way. The Circular Design Toolkit is a key deliverable on the Textiles 2030 Circularity Roadmap which sets out what needs to happen between now and 2030 to achieve the Textiles 2030 targets and transition to a circular economy.”

Joseph Mountain, Sustainability Lead at N Brown Group: “Textiles 2030’s guiding tools on circularity have helped us understand how we can reduce our carbon emissions. At N Bown Group, we’ve started working on circular design projects and have utilised the Circular Design Toolkit to start workshops and understand how we can integrate circular design into our product lifecycle.”

What next?

• Circular design training based on the Toolkit is currently being developed.
• Textiles 2030’s Circular Design workstream continues with its focus on the principles outlined in the guide, bringing signatories from across the value chain together to accelerate progress in its Design for Circularity Working Groups.
• Progress is tracked through the circularity benchmark survey and through improvement actions as they are added to the Textiles 2030 Footprint Tool.