The SCIRT User Board took place in Vienna, Austria on May 11th & 12th and gathered representatives from the textiles value chain to talk about biggest obstacles linked to achieving circular fashion and approaches of tackling them.
Throughout the event, participants had meaningful, open discussions among experts invited for the meeting, from fashion brands and designers, to researchers, recyclers, civil society and policy makers. Creative brainstorming sessions took place to dig deep into the topic and better understand how SCIRT can provide valuable solutions to tackle the challenge in the future.
Breakout groups identified market needs for recycled fibres and addresses their ambitions depending on their specialization. Some key ambitions are:
- to educate on sustainability and clothing repair
- have a product passport (as mentioned in the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles and an a development of SCIRT)
- produce all clothes to be easily recycled and made from more than 50% recycled fibre
- have a True Cost Model (which SCIRT is working on)
- reduce and discourage sales or discounts
Attendees further involved in a Q&A with María Rincón Liévana, Policy Officer at the European Commission, about the recently published EU Textile Strategy and took a field trip to a contemporary fashion exhibition showcasing 3D textiles and clothes produced from natural materials.
Overall, the User Board was able to exchange and share around sustainability in the textile and fashion industry and make connections with the goal of implementing circularity at large scale in a currently linear production system.
