Circular solutions for business to business textiles failing to keep pace with rising waste volumes
- Susan
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
Circular solutions for business to business textiles have yet to scale in line with the volume of waste generated, according to new research by Reconomy, the international circular economy specialist.
Business to business textiles include textile based products used for commercial or industrial purposes such as soft furnishings, automotive interiors, agricultural textiles and construction materials rather than clothing worn by consumers. While these sectors are widely considered to be better positioned for circularity than the business to consumer sector due to established logistics and the fact that business to business textiles are typically more homogenous in material composition, solutions remain underdeveloped and have not yet scaled, leaving large volumes of material flowing into downcycling or disposal.
The research examines waste flows and market dynamics across five priority business to business textile categories, including soft furnishings; upholstery and furniture textiles; automotive textiles; agricultural textiles; and geo-textiles and construction textiles.
Across all five, the findings point to a common challenge, namely that while circularity is technically possible, it is impeded in practice by weak sorting, limited aggregation, poor data visibility and underdeveloped end markets – meaning materials that could be reused or recycled are instead lost from the system.
Within UK business to business soft furnishings, for example, the research found that products are dominated by bed, bath and table linen used by the hospitality and healthcare sectors which generate large waste flows. Despite the strong underlying recycling potential of these materials, reuse is structurally constrained by hygiene requirements and low unit value, resulting in most volumes sent to energy from waste facilities or landfill.
The research identifies that the primary opportunity for the industry lies upstream, in improving sorting and aggregation at industrial laundries, which act as the key control point for circular and end of life material routing.
The report comes amid rising waste volumes, with more than 6000 tonnes of hospitality textiles lost each year in the UK and four million linen items lost annually by the NHS, including bed sheets, pillowcases and surgical gowns.
Commenting, Aimee Campanella, development director for textiles EPR at Reconomy, said: ‘While much discussion around textiles circularity has centred on apparel, non apparel textiles represent a significant adjacent area that has been largely overlooked. Given our expertise in textiles for clothing and footwear, we commissioned this new research to provide the industry with greater clarity on the structural barriers holding circularity back, and what needs to change to accelerate circular models that reduce waste, cut carbon emissions and lower costs for businesses.’
The full report can be found here
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