POLICY BRIEF

PROSPERING IN THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

THE CASE OF EUROPEAN TEXTILE & APPAREL MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

The need for a Circular Economy is becoming widely acknowledged across Europe and it is addressed by businesses, society and policy makers; initiatives are booming.

Reducing waste, combined with an intelligent use of resources, has the potential to solve the gap resulting from natural resource scarcity and global growing population or consumption.

Hundreds of textile sector companies have, successfully, innovated and adapted their business models to better compete and deal with the change. The potential is, however, much greater.

While continuing its transformation, the SME-based European textile and apparel industry is in a privileged position to deliver and prosper in the Circular Economy; in fact, it is both close to consumers and instrumental to other sectors.

In Europe, there is already a textile value chain capable of recycling fabrics, regenerating fibres and maximising resources in production.

This asset shall be consolidated and improved to profit from the opportunities of the Circular Economy and for which there is virtually no limit to growth.

Prospering in the Circular Economy will truly be achieved by bring-ing together the existing private and public initiatives, removing barriers, investing to foster technological innovation and stimulating the demand.

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The European Textile and Apparel industry

A key European manufacturing sector made up of 177.700 companies, 99% are SMEs, producing primarily in Europe and integrated in the global value chains.

This industry is transforming since 2004 when it starts to move away from mass market com-modity goods to focus on high value, innovative and sustainable products and production which deliver garments to people as well as key materials for personal protection, sport, auto-motive, aerospace, construction, medical, and many other applications.

Europe is the world’s second largest exporter of textile products generating €171 billion turno-ver and employing 1.7 million people.