Textiles 2030, the voluntary agreement for collaborative climate action in the UK fashion and textiles industry, has launched its second Annual Progress Update for 2022/23.

In the first two years, 130 businesses, representing over 62% of all clothing products placed on the UK market, have signed up to the agreement, which incorporates science-based targets to transition to a circular textiles economy leveraging the Textiles 2030 Footprint Tool and the Circularity Roadmap. Through the agreement, signatories have pledged ten-year targets of:

• 50% reduction in the overall carbon footprint of new textile products by 2030
• 30% reduction in the overall water footprint of new textile products by 2030
• Industry collaboration to achieve the Textiles 2030 Circularity Roadmap ambitions

However, the results from year two of Textiles 2030 paint a mixed picture. The collective carbon footprint has decreased by 2% in comparison to the baseline year of 2019 but the water footprint has increased by 8% due to the increased amount of cotton used. Cotton fibre production accounts for 84% of the total water footprint. There has also been a 13% increase in the volume of textile products placed on the market since 2019.

Topline statistics 2022

• 2% decrease in collective carbon footprint
• 130 signatories representing over 62% of textiles placed on the UK market
• Improvement actions helped to reduce the carbon impact of textiles by 12% and water impact by 4% on a per tonne basis
• 8% increase in collective water footprint
• 84% of total water footprint came from cotton fibre production
• 44% of textiles produced had a lower environmental impact than conventional counterparts
• 13% increase in volume of textile products placed on the UK market
• 8% more textiles collected by reuse and recycling organisations
• Preloved sales equal to 9% of new products sold

Read the full report here

Reuse and recycling signatories

The activities undertaken by reuse and recycling signatories in 2022 helped to reduce 1.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent and 385 million cubic metres of water. These significant reductions are largely attributed to sales of recycled and reused products replacing sales of new products (displacement rate). Recent WRAP evidence has allowed an updated displacement rate to be used in year 2 of reporting.

Project Re:claim scales up polyester recycling technology

The Salvation Army Trading Company (SATCoL) has partnered with Project Plan B on a pioneering new polyester fibre-to-fibre recycling system under Project Re:claim, aimed at reducing textile waste. The installation of the first commercial-scale post-consumer polyester recycling technology at SATCoL’s textile processing centre in Kettering, Northamptonshire, has commenced and operations are due to begin in Autumn 2023.

The new system is able to process end of life textiles and turn it into polyester pellets which can then be used to make polyester yarn. In its inaugural year, the machinery is projected to recycle approximately 2,500 tonnes of textiles, with expectations to scale up to 5,000 tonnes in year two.

Textiles 2030 Annual Progress Report 2022/23

Discover more findings and highlights from the report here.