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Major fashion names from ASOS to Primark sign up for Textiles 2030 action plan

Lauretta Roberts
26 April 2021

Major fashion names, including ASOS, Next, Primark, Marks & Spencer and Boohoo, have signed up to the Textiles 2030 action plan, which has been described as "the most ambitious ten-year programme for clothing and textiles in the world".

WRAP, the UK's leading sustainability charity, is behind the initiative which seeks to slash the impact of fashion and home textiles "through practical interventions" throughout the supply chain.

Some 17 major brands and retailers, 26 reuse and recycle organisations and 20 affiliates are taking part, meaning that the agreement is supported by more than half of the UK market at its launch today. Nearly 60% of the clothing placed on the UK market (by sales volume) comes from the retailers signed up to Textiles 2030.

Other major names to take part include John Lewis, Superdry, Sainsbury's, Ted Baker, JD Sports, Gymshark, Frasers Group, Pep & Co, Asda, Dunelm and Tesco.

WRAP CEO Marcus Gover said: “I’ve been impressed by the way business has committed to reducing the environmental impact of its products and striving for net zero. They clearly see this as core to their business models and essential for building back better as they recover from the pandemic.

"We have been working with business to develop Textiles 2030 to drive forward the sector-wide change needed to redress how we use textiles. Our research shows that public demand is there for clothes made more sustainably, and not disposable fashion so the time is right for this transformation.

“Textiles 2030 will create a fashion sector fit for the future and lower the environmental impacts of other household textiles. This is just the beginning of a decade long programme and we need more companies to show their commitment to their customers through Textiles 2030. With clothing having the fourth largest impact on the environment after transport, housing and food we simply cannot afford for sustainability not to be the next big thing in fashion.”

The roadmap:

The Textiles 2030 Roadmap, which is unveiled today, shows what signatories must do to deliver the targets, with key outcomes by the end of 2022, 2025 and 2030. These actions set out to transform the UK’s make-use-dispose fashion culture into one where products are made sustainably, used longer and then re-used or recycled. The Target-Measure-Act approach will be used so that textiles businesses set tough targets, measure impact and track progress on both an individual business basis, and towards national targets and public reporting.

Textiles 2030 environmental targets are:

  • Cut carbon by 50%, sufficient to put the UK textiles sector on a path consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change and achieving Net Zero by 2050 at the latest.
  • Reduce the aggregate water footprint of new products sold by 30%.

Roadmap ambitions for circular textiles, which partner signatories will join forces to achieve:

  • Design for Circularity: agree good practice principles, including durability, recyclability, use of recycled content and minimising waste, and implement them as appropriate to their business model and customer base, to lower the impact of product placed on market in the UK.
  • Implement Circular Business Models: pilot reuse business models as appropriate to their product ranges, share learning, and develop large-scale implementation to extend the lifetime of clothing in the UK – and decouple business growth from the use of virgin resources.
  • Close the Loop on Materials: set up partnerships to supply and use recycled fibres for new products, accelerating the commercialisation of fibre-to-fibre recycling in the UK.

Footprint modelling shows that these three actions towards circularity could deliver half of the climate target, according to WRAP.

Textiles 2030 is also being supported by Baroness Young of Hornsey OBE. The Crossbench peer and Chancellor of the University of Nottingham is an advocate for sustainable textiles and recognises the need to act.

Baroness Young said: “We urgently need to protect the planet from the damaging, unsustainable impact of the way we produce and consume clothing and textiles. Innovation, creativity and commitment, underpinned by collaboration is essential if we are to be successful.

"By working together, businesses across the UK can take the critical steps needed to transform business practices in the sector for good and achieve our climate goals. With WRAP’s expertise in delivering initiatives such as Textiles 2030, and with the sector’s knowledge and expertise I am excited by the impact we can achieve together. I urge every fashion and textiles business in the UK to sign up to Textiles 2030.”

Textiles 2030 builds on the foundation of the SCAP 2020 voluntary agreement (Sustainable Clothing Action Plan) which saw businesses respond to growing public demand for fashion with a softer environmental footprint, by adopting robust measurement and targeted action. SCAP was successful in helping signatories achieve and surpass the water and carbon targets.

The UK’s Textiles 2030 is the first national agreement in what will become a global network of initiatives, under the new Textiles Action Network, to reduce the environmental impact of clothing around the world.

What the retailers say:

  • Rosie Howells, Head of Sustainability at boohoo group plc - “The best way to drive real change is by working with other retailers towards shared goals. That is why we are proud to support the Textiles 2030 initiative and publicly commit ourselves to reducing our impact on the planet’s resources. In order for our business to continue to succeed, we know we need to innovate and deliver creative solutions. I am excited to see where this partnership takes us and share our learning with the industry as we work together to protect our environment.”
  • Dayna Wragg, Sustainability Lead, Frasers Group - “As one of the founding signatories of Textiles 2030, Frasers Group is proud and excited to be collaborating with fellow leading retailers and others to reduce the impact of the textiles industry on the environment and climate change."
  • Jeremy Mace, Head of Quality, Dunelm - “Dunelm are thrilled to be part of WRAP’s Textiles 2030 Action Plan. As a homeware retailer, our aim is to progressively reduce the impact of our products on the planet, to help make sustainability accessible for all our customers. This is just one step of many, in our wider sustainability journey.”
  • Ben Francis, Chief Product Officer, Gymshark - “We’re really proud to be part of Textiles 2030 here at Gymshark. As a young company, we’re at the beginning of our sustainability journey. This programme fits in perfectly with our sustainability strategy and will give us the opportunity to develop meaningful collaborations and projects that will be key to achieve our targets. We’re fully committed to putting sustainability at the heart of everything we do, so we’ll play our part in reducing emissions, virgin resources, and developing products that follow circularity principles.”
  • Monique Leeuwenburgh, Head of Product Technology at M&S Clothing & Home - “At M&S, we source all our clothing with care and want to ensure nothing goes to waste. We’ve made huge progress over the last decade by working together with our suppliers and partners  – from launching our clothes recycling scheme Shwopping to using 100% responsibly sourced cotton for our clothing. But we know there is always more to be done as we work towards becoming a net zero business, and that’s why we’re partnering with the wider industry through Textiles 2030 to create real change at scale.”

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