The First Report On China'S Circular Fashion Industry Issued: Calling For Joint Promotion Of Circular Development Of Textile And Garment Industry

On October 20, 2020, China Textile Industry Federation The office of social responsibility, Allen MacArthur Foundation and Lanjing group jointly released the report circular fashion: China's new textile economic outlook. This report, from the perspective of the whole industry chain for the first time, makes a panoramic scan of the current situation, good practices and challenges of China's textile and garment industry's circular transformation. Based on the development trend of international circular fashion, the vision and opportunities of circular development of the industry are prospected.

Driven by the rising voice of sustainable development and the urgent need for new development opportunities, fashion industry is rethinking the way of textile and garment manufacturing, consumption and processing. Circular fashion is an industrial system solution that different stakeholders are actively promoting in order to achieve sustainable industrial development clothing In the design, production, use and recycling process to maximize value, reduce resource consumption and waste generation, reshape a more responsible, more resilient industrial future.

China has been vigorously promoting circular economy since the eleventh five year plan. Under the guidance of the national circular development strategy, China's textile and clothing industry has made progress in the circular transformation, and has initially formed its own basic characteristics of circular development. The optimization of raw material structure, the improvement of resource utilization in manufacturing and the recycling of waste textiles are the three key areas of industry recycling practice.

Specifically, the proportion of recycled fiber processing in China is increasing, from 9.6% in 2010 to 11.3% in 2015, and the preliminary estimate is that the output in 2018 will exceed 7 million tons; a variety of bio based chemical fibers have also achieved industrial development, and have been applied in different fields such as clothing, home textile, medical treatment and health care; The level of energy saving, consumption reduction and resource recycling in textile manufacturing has also been significantly improved, and a large number of new technologies have been broken through and widely used; the industrial chain of waste textile recycling, sorting and comprehensive utilization has been basically completed; the "zero abandonment of old clothes" activity has been carried out continuously, and the extended producer responsibility system has also begun to be practiced at the enterprise level. According to incomplete statistics, in 2018, China's waste textile resource utilization proportion reached 17%.

In recent years, the design and consumption links have also shown a new trend conducive to industrial cycle transformation. Green design related practices are gradually increasing, and the trend of sustainable consumption is also gradually emerging, and some consumers begin to turn Green textile Clothing consumption. According to the survey of 5002 consumers' consumption awareness in 2019, more than 67% of consumers begin to pay attention to sustainable products, and about 26% of consumers say that they will not only pay attention to sustainable products, but also purchase them on purpose. Consumers' awareness of second-hand clothing / clothing rental is also increasing, and some new business models such as leasing, sharing, second-hand resale and other services have also begun to rise.

However, as a whole, China's textile and garment industry is still in the initial stage of development due to its large volume and scale, variety of products and long industrial chain. There is still a lot of room for improvement in the recycling practice, including the substitution scale of non renewable raw materials, the resource utilization level in the manufacturing process, the recycling and reuse of waste textiles, and the design and consumption based on the principle of circular economy Between. With the increasingly tense pressure of resources and environment, it is imperative to accelerate the circular transformation of China's textile and garment industry and expand the scale of related practices.

To accelerate the industrial cycle transformation, we need to take targeted measures from different dimensions such as technology, policy, market and consciousness, unify the vision and goal of circular development, clarify the main responsibilities of all stakeholders, and promote the joint cooperation of the upstream and downstream links of the industrial chain. "Circular fashion: China's new textile economy outlook" puts forward the vision of China's new textile economy, as well as five objectives and suggestions for system transformation based on raw materials, design, manufacturing, consumption and post waste links.

It includes:

Objective 1. Further optimize the structure of raw materials and reduce the consumption of non renewable resources.

Objective 2. Turn to textile design based on the principle of circular economy.

Objective 3. Further improve the resource utilization efficiency of manufacturing process.

Objective 4. Innovate business model and expand green consumption.

Objective 5. Promote the recycling and upgrading of waste textiles.

On October 21, 2020, Yan Yan, director of the social responsibility Office of China Textile Industry Federation, introduced the core findings of the report during the "sustainability and circular economy" segment of the 2020 annual meeting of the International Federation of textile and weaving merchants.

Yan Yan, director of the social responsibility Office of China Textile Industry Federation, pointed out: "the epidemic situation makes people begin to think deeply about the relationship between man and nature. China's textile and garment industry is speeding up the construction of a green cycle low-carbon industrial system, based on the global value chain to promote the transformation and upgrading of the industry, so as to achieve a more responsible and more resilient industry in the future. This research has a history of nearly one year. It systematically combs the recycling practice and achievements of China's textile and garment industry since 2005, and based on international practice and trend, it elaborates and prospects the future opportunities of China's industry, which is believed to provide a useful reference for the industry to explore the way of circular development. "

Mr. mccois pointed out that the "recycling of fashion" and "the recycling of fashion" projects create opportunities for the long-term development of the fashion industry. In the recycling fashion system, textile and clothing is composed of safe and renewable materials, the service life of the products is extended, and after being discarded, it can be reused and remanufactured to return to the production and consumption end. With the continuous development of global circular fashion, the release of "circular fashion: China's new textile economy" marks an exciting milestone. It not only highlights that China's fashion industry can lay a solid foundation for the global circular transformation, but also looks forward to the vision and goal of the industry's future accelerated development. “

Hu Jian, senior executive vice president, North Asia, Austria Lanjing group

Only through full cooperation with the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain can we achieve the goal of sustainable and circular development. Therefore, Lanjing is very happy to participate in the cooperative research and report preparation of "circular fashion: China's new textile economic outlook". Starting from a global perspective, the report focuses on the circular transformation of the fashion industry. Through a large number of surveys, cases and data analysis, the report combs the innovation practice of international circular fashion and the current situation and opportunities of China's fashion industry, providing systematic thinking and forward-looking planning solutions for all stakeholders in the value chain.

As an important part of global fashion industry, circular transformation of China's textile and garment industry is the key to the future of global circular fashion, and will deeply affect its process. On the one hand, China is the world's largest textile and clothing producer and exporter. In 2018, the total fiber processing accounted for 50% of the global total fiber processing, and the textile and clothing export accounted for 35% of the global total export. On the other hand, China is also one of the largest textile and garment consumer markets in the world, and is one of the top three markets of many famous fashion brands and enterprises. The expansion of the new middle class and the upgrading of consumption concept will further release the market potential of textile and clothing and the industrial driving force of sustainable consumption.

The development of circular economy is an important way to achieve high-quality development of China's textile and clothing industry. In recent years, a variety of uncertain factors have increased the difficulty and risk of world economic recovery. The outbreak of new coronavirus pneumonia in the world in early 2020 has intensified the vulnerability of global business environment. The highly international textile and garment industry is facing severe challenges. In the new era of increasingly complex environment, different stakeholders in China's textile and garment industry, including government departments, enterprises, designers, associations and research institutions, as well as consumers, should be based on the global value chain under the common vision of circular development, carry out larger and deeper coordination and cooperation, seize new growth opportunities, and build a more resilient industrial value chain.