Wieland Textiles, Brightloops | Loop.a life, ReShare and the municipality of Zaanstad have signed a long-term cooperation agreement to realize a circular textile industry in the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam (MRA). On the 26thof November 2018, representatives of the parties involved put their signature under an agreement that also marks the foundation of the Dutch Center for Circular Textiles (DCCT). This business start-up will connect all links from the textile supply chain in the MRA: from the collection of discarded clothes up to and including the production of new garments. The goals are: making one of the most polluting industries in the world more sustainable and substantial reduction of the growing refuse dump of post-consumer textiles.
The main challenge for the short-term is to fill the missing links in the envisioned circular textile chain. Amongst other things, the partnership is still in need of machinery to unstitch sorted fabric and to weave new tissues from recycled materials. With financial support of the MRA the signatories will therefore utilize the first quarter of 2019 to develop a business case on how to close the loop of textile upcycling in the region. This business case must also provide for a stimulating environment in which businesses and research and education institutions can develop innovations for a circular textile industry. According to Hans Bon, director of Wieland Textiles, these are the first steps to accomplish the mission that each article of garment consists of at least 20 per cent of post-consumer material within the time frame of ten years.
