The fashion and textiles industry has become a global problem. Waste. Exploitation. Complex supply chains. Microplastic pollution. Lack of transparency.
To address these issues in South Africa, a collaborative, multi-stakeholder pact could help drive local industry-wide change. With funding from Anglo American Foundation and the UK environment action organisation Wrap as a supporting partner, Green Cape has initiated the process of forming a voluntary pact for the industry. Ultimately the industry should shift from a linear economy to a circular economy, reduce sending textiles to landfill, increase recycling and increase circular design and other practices.
It is complex and tricky work yet across the world, and in South Africa, there are already thousands of people and organisations working to fix and to influence the industry positively. The country leading sustainable policymaking, France, has implemented end producer responsibility regulations for the fashion and textiles industry. French brands and retailers now are responsible for managing the end-of-life of their products, including collection, sorting, and recycling of textiles, and contribute financially to the cost of this process.
While South Africa does not have an EPR for clothing and textiles yet, it does have the Retail–Clothing Textile Footwear Leather Master Plan 2030 that government is driving to grow and green manufacturing. Retailers are increasing their local manufacturing, and making their operations more efficient. There are big recyclers like Brits and Connacher that mostly work with factory waste. There are the medium-sized organisations like Taking Care of Business, Clothes to Good and Faro that process returns, unsold inventory, repair, upcycle and sell second-hand clothes. There are countless charities like U-Turn and Help a Rural Child that work with post-consumer waste. With very little resources, these organisations are collecting, sorting, swapping, repairing, donating, selling… All of these efforts are helping to extend the life of garments and other textiles.
A pact would help co-ordinate and potentially scale these efforts.
Green Cape kick started the process of forming a pact on 14 May in Cape Town with the first of three workshops titled The Circular Economy for Textiles in South Africa. It was attended by 58 people from major retailers, sustainability experts, government, recyclers and circular economy think tanks. Further workshops will be held in Johannesburg and Durban, and together these workshops will help the industry to align and move towards collaborative action. Once workshops are completed Green Cape will compile and share a full summary of all inputs and ideas received with participants.
Well-placed for this role, Green Cape is a not-for-profit company that “drives the widespread adoption of economically viable green economy solutions from South Africa”. It is also the secretariat for the SA Plastics Pact which supports industry members in reaching targets to reduce plastic waste, and increase recycling.
Green Cape’s circular economy analyst Keabetswe Sesoko was our host for the first workshop. Circular economy lead Sam Smout and expert circular economy analyst Roan Snyman gave presentations. Sam explained the principles of a circular economy and showed that the South African textile supply chain is linear, offshored and fragile. His presentation was followed by Roan’s who explained what the process of developing a collaborative textiles pact would entail. First step is to understand what the problem is; second is to align the industry; then to decide what to focus on; and the final step is decide how the pact should be structured and who will participate. Roan described similar South African pacts in other sectors: SA Plastics Pact, South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative and South African Food Loss and Waste Initiative.
From the UK, Wrap representative Talya Shalev gave examples of international organisations doing similar work in textiles including Canadian Circular Textiles Consortium, Lifestyle & Design Cluster in Denmark and Seamless in Australia. Some of these are not focussed purely on waste reduction. Besides waste, other important circular principles are living wages, circular design, circular business models, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and water usage. Talya asked the audience to think about what it wants to achieve without policy.
Microscopic ideas, if well nurtured and developed in a conducive environment, and well supported can spark an economic revolution and make massive contributions to the general welfare of humanity
What do I think? In the breakaway discussion that I attended, the discussion was focussed on waste and recycling. (Textile waste makes up 6% of landfills in Cape Town and in South Africa.) Going forward, social systems, and design and materials need to be integral to any problem-solving. Designers are key to innovation and to thinking through problems, testing alternatives and finding solutions. Alongside the RCTFL masterplan, the industry should consider the Cultural and Creative Industries masterplan. The latter makes the point: “Microscopic ideas, if well nurtured and developed in a conducive environment, and well supported can spark an economic revolution and make massive contributions to the general welfare of humanity.”
We shouldn’t lose sight of what a local south African circular fashion economy could look like. We could be inspired and learn from organisations across Africa such as Revival Earth in Ghana and Ambani in Kenya. In her article for Twyg, circular economy expert Kiera Crowe Pettersson wrote that locally, a circular economy for fashion: “means, placing South African communities and small-scale producers at the heart of the value chain, supported by innovative technologies and sustainable practices. This could involve using indigenous, biodegradable materials, and traditional craftsmanship, coupled with contemporary design principles, to create high-quality, sustainable fashion. All elements of the system are considered – from regenerative agriculture to wastewater. The distributive aspect would ensure that wealth and opportunities are spread more evenly, with fair wages and working conditions for all workers. Collaborative platforms and digital marketplaces could connect local designers and artisans with global markets, promoting South African fashion while preserving cultural heritage and biodiversity. In this way, a regenerative and distributive circular fashion economy in South Africa could foster economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental regeneration.”
Upcycled design brand Afrogrunge at SA Menswear Week AW 25. Photo: SDR Photos
There are many signs of an emerging circular economy. South African independent designers, and small and medium-sized fashion businesses are switching from petroleum-based fibres to natural fibres, exploring zero waste pattern-cutting and introducing circular business models. Think of the newly founded rental company R’Afrique, upcycled fashion brand Afrogrunge, and the many tailors working in reused shipping containers in townships and in the basement parking garages of most of our shopping malls. (Honestly, do we credit these tailors nearly enough for the role they play in building a circular economy?)
What is missing? Yes, we need an industry pact for manufacturing and retail. But we also need more research and investment into textile-to-textile recycling, which does not exist as a profitable solution anywhere yet. We need to understand the full impact – social, environmental and economic – of different types of recycling. We need better quality clothing that is used for much longer. We need to address overproduction in the fashion and textile industry. Globally this is estimated to be “up to 51% of total production, with excess goods discounted, liquidated, “onwards disposed” to the customer, destroyed or landfilled.”
In the meantime, it’s critical that we support existing solutions: grassroots, micro, medium and large scale recyclers, menders, sustainable designers, entrepreneurs and innovators who are doing the difficult work figuring out how to do better.
- Feature image: Green Tress |Wikimedia Commons
- African circular economy resources:
