Tomra has published a whitepaper titled 'Transforming Textiles: 4 Key Beliefs to Enable Textiles Circularity’ in a bid to outline the strategies and technologies needed for the transition to a circular value chain.

The organisation noted the global textile market plays a key role in the global economy, but overconsumption over the last 20 years has put pressure on natural resources with only 1% of annual textile waste being recycled into new products without downgrade.

Tomra Textiles head Vibeke Krohn explained the company recognises the urgency to reshape the textiles value chain from linear to circular.

He said: "Our webcast and whitepaper serve as essential guides for the industry to leverage immense opportunities for transformation. We are committed to driving innovation and collaborating with industry leaders to shape a more circular and responsible future for the textile industry."

The whitepaper aims to highlight the transformative potential within the textile industry's current processes and explore new strategies and technologies. It is also said to chart a course toward a circular textiles value chain by revolutionising waste into valuable resources.

TOMRA Textiles director of strategic partnerships Louisa Hoyes added: "Transforming Textiles highlights the critical role of collaboration among industry players, policymakers, and consumers to scale up infrastructure for traceable textile collection, sorting, reuse, and fibre-to-fibre recycling. Together, we can transform the textile landscape into one that prioritises sustainability and circularity."

The key steps to apparel, textile circularity

1. Supportive policy, legislation, and incentives to guide and motivate the shift towards circularity in textiles and apparel
2. Cross-industry collaboration and business model innovation to support profitable and long-term value creation across the textile and apparel value chain
3. Investments to scale infrastructure for automated sorting and mature recycling technologies to enable fibre-to-fibre textiles across material types and compositions
4. A robust digital core to capture data and insights across the textile and apparel value chain to allow for transparency and traceability and keep consumers, industry players, and regulators informed.

Last month (January) Coach, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and the Circular Economy Institute shared insights into how to unlock the next stages of circularity in the apparel sector and the importance of moving from supply chains to ‘supply networks’.