Accelerating Circularity explained its new grant is intended to build on its earlier success and learnings and demonstrate the technical feasibility of textile-to-textile recycling systems.
Karla Magruder, founder and president of Accelerating Circularity, said: "We are fortunate to have the support of the Walmart Foundation to do this next level of work and move closer to realising our vision of a world in which textiles are no longer wasted. We aim to broaden our engagement as we continue to build the business case for circularity and invite new industry collaborators to join us in this endeavour."
The organisation's three-pronged approach to tackling textile waste is based on:
- Tool development and using the who/what/where/when/how identified in the Textile Waste Hierarchy to allow users to optimise the flow of used textiles through channels that have the highest circular potential or greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction benefits.
- Build markets through commercialisation of circular textile-to-textile recycling at standard production scale volumes for circular materials; development of additional circular fibers, yarns, and fabrics; and including strategic new geographies to establish sustainable circular supply chains that include all of North and Central America.
- Educate and engage brands/retailers and institutions on responsible disposal pathways for used textiles to reduce the amount of used textile moving through landfills.
The non-profit pointed out that to date and through its previous grant from the Walmart Foundation in 2021, the Accelerating Circularity has done extensive work to demonstrate that textile-to-textile recycling is possible.
Accelerating Circularity has already:
- Mapped existing systems and identified gaps
- Modeled new circular supply chain systems for textile-to-textile supply networks
- Linked the newly identified supply chain systems to build markets
- Piloted trials at scalable levels to demonstrate textile-to-textile recycling in the US and Europe
- Developed Tools to facilitate future trials and expedite circular systems - e.g. Playbook "how to guide."
