In 2015, the Social Responsibility Office of China National Textile and Apparel Council formulated the sustainable development goals of China's textile industry, covering 12 indicators in three dimensions: economy, society and environment. In order to implement the development goals of industrial social responsibility, the Social Responsibility Office of China National Textile and Apparel Council cooperates with the government, institutions and related enterprises to promote sustainable innovation pioneer projects, covering four topics: chemicals, water management, carbon emissions and climate change, and circular innovation. Promote sustainable industrial development and accelerate sustainable innovation and cooperation.
In June 2015, the China National Textile and Apparel Council held the "China Textile Roundtable · Resource Reuse" forum in Shanghai. With the theme of "'Zero Abandonment of Old Clothes' Status and Realization Ways", the current situation and future development direction of my country's waste textile recycling and reuse were discussed in depth from the perspectives of the government, associations, enterprises and the public. And released the first white paper on the current situation of the recycling economy of waste textiles.
In October 2017, the Social Responsibility Office of China National Textile and Apparel Council, together with Shanghai Textile Group and JD.com jointly held the first China Sustainable Fashion Week with the theme of fashion recycling, and carried out the "new life of old clothes" with JD.com and C&A brands to recycle old clothes. activities, and jointly demonstrate the recycling practice of waste PET bottles to textiles with Coca-Cola and Shanghai De Fu Lun. The event also showcased a star-length dress made of marine recycled materials provided by Haines Morris Group, which attracted great attention.
In October 2019, the Social Responsibility Office of China National Textile and Apparel Council, together with Rimba Menswear, launched the "China Future Designers' Seed Plan - Clothing Reconstruction Competition", and 30 sets of Chinese young designers' remade clothing works were selected from the works of 122 contestants. The China Corner of the COP25 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Madrid, the capital of Spain, two designer representatives from Donghua University and the Central Academy of Fine Arts and 8 universities including Cambridge University, Tokyo University, Tsinghua University and other 8 universities with a professional research background in the field of environment and climate. The students jointly performed the special action "When Sustainable Fashion Meets Climate Change". Afterwards, the clothing remanufacturing works were displayed on tour at the headquarters of Li Ning, the Shenzhen and Shanghai seasons of the 2020 China Sustainable Fashion Week, and the 2021 China International Fashion Week.
In June 2019, the Social Responsibility Office of China National Textile and Apparel Council held the 2019 China Fashion Industry Circular Economy Management Innovation Project Launch Meeting in Beijing, gathering 20 stakeholders from inside and outside the industry and upstream and downstream of the industry chain. It is hoped that by establishing a multi-stakeholder communication mechanism, listening to different voices from inside and outside the industry, upstream and downstream of the industry chain, and jointly exploring the possibility and path of the industry's systematic circular economy transformation.
In October 2020, the Social Responsibility Office of China National Textile and Apparel Council, Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Lenzing Group jointly released the report "Circular Fashion: Prospects for China's New Textile Economy". From the perspective of the whole industry chain, this report makes a panoramic scan of the current situation, good practices and challenges of the circular transformation of China's textile and apparel industry for the first time. (The first report on China's circular fashion industry is released: calling for the joint promotion of circular development of the textile and garment industry)
In January 2021, in order to implement the goals of "reduction, reuse, and resource utilization" proposed in the "Twelfth Five-Year Development Plan for the Textile Industry", to promote the recycling, sorting, production, procurement and recycling of recycled products from waste textiles The construction of the system is sponsored by the Environmental Protection and Resource Conservation Promotion Committee of China National Textile and Apparel Council, supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature and China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, and jointly carried out with Decathlon and Donglong Down Enterprise, the brand action of "zero discard of old clothes". Jointly promote the pilot work on the application of waste textile recycling industry, take the lead in carrying out the public welfare action of used clothing recycling with retail brands, standardize the textile recycling, sorting, recycling and reuse mechanism, explore the establishment of a closed-loop model of waste textile recycling and resource utilization, and promote waste textile recycling products. Green value chain construction, promote green product design and sustainable use of raw materials. Through this action, the whole industry and the whole society are proposed to promote the concept that used clothes are recyclable resources, advocate a low-carbon lifestyle, and create a better life together.
In January 2022, the National Textile Products Development Center, as a co-participant, joined the China National Institute of Standardization, the ICLEI-Local Sustainable Development Association "ICLEI, and the MedWaves United Nations Environment Programme Sustainable Consumption and Production Regional Activity Center to jointly launch the EU-Asia transformation SwitchAsia. Project “Practice of SMEs in Huzhou and Shaoxing Textile and Apparel Industry Transformation to Circular Economy”, by 2025, the specific goals of promoting the transformation of textile and fashion industries in Huzhou and Shaoxing, China to circular economy include: improving local textile and fashion industries Sustainable management, resource efficiency, and adoption of circular economy principles; creating an enabling policy environment for key stakeholders in the circular textile industry in Huzhou and Shaoxing; increasing the textile and apparel industry’s access to eco-design, investment recovery, and clean technology transition financing.
The project is part of the EU Green New Deal and EU Circular Economy Action Plan, in which the textile industry is listed as a key priority. The transition to a circular economy will reduce pressure on natural resources and will create sustainable growth and new jobs. In addition, the project will provide future proof and skills training for the transition to a circular economy and provide EU consumers with sustainable textiles from China.
In April 2022, China's National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Promotion of the Recycling of Waste Textiles" and proposed that by 2025, the recycling system of waste textiles will be initially established, and the recycling capacity will be improved. Significantly improved, the recycling rate of waste textiles reached 25%, and the output of recycled fibers from waste textiles reached 2 million tons. By 2030, a relatively complete waste textile recycling system will be built, the awareness of producers and consumers on recycling will be significantly improved, high-value utilization channels will continue to expand, and the level of industrial development will be significantly improved. The recycling rate of waste textiles will reach 30%, and waste textiles Regenerated fiber production reached 3 million tons.
The basic mode and important direction of the circular transformation of China's textile and garment industry
In May 2022, the Social Responsibility Office of China National Textile and Apparel Council and Haynes Morris Group jointly launched the China Textile Circulation Innovation Research Project to conduct in-depth research on the status quo and problems in the process of recycling, sorting and reuse of textiles. China's textile industry is moving towards a textile closed-loop (T2T) transformation to identify problem points and innovation opportunities. We will invite major manufacturers of recycling and reuse in the textile industry chain to participate, and based on this research, we will write research reports and application guidelines, carry out capacity building and research results release activities for participating manufacturers, and demonstrate the recycling and reuse of major textile materials. The industry panorama, technology path and innovation direction provide a reference for participants to identify investment, business and innovation opportunities in T2T supply chain collaboration.
"Circular Fashion: China's New Textile Economy" puts forward the vision of China's new textile economy: to build a green, circular, low-carbon textile and garment industry system, improve the efficiency of industry resource utilization, and reduce resource consumption and negative environmental impacts.
Five goals of China's new textile economy: 1. Further optimize the structure of raw materials and reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources 2. Shift to textile design based on circular economy principles 3. Further improve the resource utilization efficiency of the manufacturing process 4. Innovate business models and expand green consumption 5. Promote the recycling and upgrading of waste textiles.