This UNEP report aims to apply an evidence-based value chain approach, mapping the textile value chain with its stakeholders, as well as environmental and socio-economic impacts along different value chain stages.

Based on this analysis, the report identifies associated hotspots in all sustainability dimensions. Giving examples of the many initiatives that are already being undertaken, the report outlines gaps, barriers and opportunities to work towards a more sustainable and circular textile value chain, highlighting priority actions.

The report concludes that circularity goes beyond incremental improvements and requires a system-wide approach, transforming the way textiles are designed, produced, consumed, and disposed of.
Textiles are interwoven into the very fabric of our everyday life, from the clothes we wear to the bed linen we sleep on. We all participate in the textile value chain through our purchase power, but do we know the true cost that the industry is having on our future?

Unravelling the stakes posed by the textile value chain is a complex task. The textile industry has been formed on a matrix of asymmetrical systems, where high volume production needs to be delivered on tight margins. To achieve sustainability and circularity, it’s clear we need systemic change that slows down the wheel of manufacturing and moves current fashion trends towards more timeless, less disposable forms of expression.

Progress is beginning to take shape to transform the vicious cycle of the textile value chain into a circular economy, but the challenge is now to move sustainable efforts from the niche to the mainstream as quickly as possible. In order to drive positive and collaborative action forward in this space, more information, transparency and guidance is required. To help us understand where we can improve, a new report by UNEP seeks to shine a light and provide the most up-to-date and informed analysis of current environmental and socio-economic hotspots along the entire value chain. ‘Sustainability and Circularity in the Textile Value Chain’ looks closely at how current practices impact climate change, land, water resources and ecosystems quality, and also proposes a set of actions that could advance sustainability and circularity along the value chain too.

In an interview, Elisa Tonda, Head of the Consumption and Production Unit at the UN Environment Programme’s Economy Division, shares her expert insight into the report’s findings. Tonda makes clear that re-stitching the fabric of a healthier textile value chain is possible and can be a positive and inclusive experience. Social responsibility is at the core of creating sustainability and circularity across the textile value chain and all industries; the future is literally in our hands and we have the opportunity to be part of the change by making more informed decision and through the power of our purchases. We helped create this system so we can help reshape it too.

How did the report on ‘Sustainability and Circularity in the Textile Value Chain’ come to exist, and how do the findings serve the UN, stakeholders and the public?

UNEP is looking at how we can advance in addressing environmental challenges by identifying a system-wide response, a response which brings together all the actors of value chains to act towards a common vision and objective. This same approach is applied across different industries and sectors. This connects to the Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production. Our approach also focuses on the responsibility of all stakeholders in the consumption and production system to co-create a more sustainable future.

This report on the textile value chain builds on the outcomes of consultations with leaders on this subject, which enabled us to consolidate strong scientific knowledge in this sector, and to discuss it with a wide variety of stakeholders from governments of different geographies, businesses of different sizes, and initiatives that have in different ways been approaching this subject. This was the ideal starting point for us to create the knowledge base and the necessary understanding on how to identify solutions that will help bring sustainability and circularity into the textiles system.

More rapid progression of the discussions on the social issues of the textile value chain has been triggered by deadly tragedies such as the Rana Plaza collapse, which took place in 2013. The same progress has not been made in the discussions on the environmental dimension. We therefore felt that it was timely for us to convene experts and networks to discuss how to raise the bar on sustainability and circularity of the textile value chain. Our report aims to inspire solutions that put sustainability and circularity into the value chain of that sector.