Reading the fine print: Ensuring Circular Business Models are truly sustainable

Amsterdam - It is no secret that when it comes to circularity, the fashion industry faces multiple issues from overproduction to underutilisation to the growing textiles waste mountain. A shift towards fast fashion in the past two decades has led to the dramatic decrease of the practical service life of clothes (how long they are actually worn) compared to their technical service life (how long they could be worn). McKinsey estimates that between 2000 and 2014, consumers started buying 60 percent more and keeping their clothing for half as long, and that up to 70 percent of closets go unworn. The fast cycle of buying and disposing of clothes drives demand for nonstop manufacturing and contributes to the fashion industries wastefulness and polluting impact. Between 2005 and 2016, the industry’s climate change impact increased by 35 percent, with increased consumption per capita as a key driver. Under a business as usual scenario we can expect a further increase of 49 percent in climate change impact by 2030 according to a report by Quantis.