Circular Threads
What is Circular Threads?
Circular Threads is a study aiming to observe the level of sustainability and circularity in Italy, and to propose a more practical and purposeful project starting from the Biella textile district to apply circular economy principles to the textile industry, increasing the rate of recovery, recycling and reuse in the industry, and disseminating information about it.
Circular Threads 1.0
The study aimed to take an overview of the current situation and accelerate the transition to the circular economy in the textile sector. This happens by identifying best practices implemented and the main challenges faced by companies.
It was developed on 3 levels of analysis:
- Desk Search: a series of sustainable and circular actions for the textile industry were identified. We checked which of these were implemented in a sample of 300 companies in Northern Italy.
- Questionnaire: a sample of nearly 70 companies involved in the research completed a questionnaire. It was designed to assess the level of circular and sustainable practices in a number of key areas.
- Circularity assessment: a detailed analysis based on the material flows of 3 companies was developed to calculate a product-level circularity index adopting the Ellen McArthur Foundation metodology.
Circular Threads 2.0
Circular Threads 2.0 will update the results of the first study and continue them, looking again at the level of sustainability and circularity in northern Italy and proposing a more practical and purposeful project starting with the textile district of Biella, then expanding to all of Italy.
This project is still being updated and will have a more pragmatic approach aimed at creating concrete outcomes. The results of the project will be gathered in a report that will be available online.
