British high street retailers and supermarkets have long been rivals, but when it comes to textile waste, they have chosen to stand together.

New Look, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's recently announced that they are joining forces with Oxfam and UK textile infrastructure company Circle-8 to launch a new collaboration called The Circuit, aimed at reducing and reusing textile waste from the clothing industry.

According to Circle-8, the UK generated approximately 1.4 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles in 2024, nearly half of which is estimated to be non-reusable. The company builds infrastructure specifically for automated textile sorting and chemical recycling, and is leading the launch of The Circuit with the aim of bringing together retailers, textile recycling partners, regenerated material companies and manufacturers to jointly build the infrastructure and business models that will turn more end-of-life textiles into new raw materials.

The first phase of the project is scheduled to launch in January 2027 at Oxfam's site in Batley, Yorkshire. Participants will test automated textile sorting, traceability, and pathways to fiber-to-fiber recycling there.

Cyndi Rhoades, co-founder and CEO of Circle-8 Textile Ecosystems, said that retailers involved in building the circular textile value chain today will be best positioned to influence and benefit from it tomorrow; through The Circuit, the parties are driving the relationships, infrastructure and commercial frameworks needed into place. She stressed that no single organization can build a circular textile value chain alone, and welcomed more companies to join.

The collaboration also plans to develop both mechanical and chemical recycling processes to convert post-consumer textiles generated in the UK into raw materials for supply to regional and global textile manufacturing. Circle-8 noted that demand for recycled textile materials is growing, but the systems for producing such materials from post-consumer textiles are still in their infancy. By opening up multiple market pathways and product directions for recycled materials, participating retailers will help shape the value chains that underpin future circular materials.

The founding participants of The Circuit include M&S, New Look, Sainsbury's, Oxfam and Circle-8; development and recycling partners include Biffa, Ekman Group, Usha Yarns, Kipas, Reju and Worn Again Technologies.

For all businesses paying attention to where old clothes end up, what makes this project worth noting is that mainstream UK retailers are trying to use joint procurement and infrastructure investment to redefine post-consumer textiles from "waste" to "raw material," and to involve brands themselves in setting standards for sorting, traceability and recycling. If the first phase proves viable, similar models could spread to more European markets, which in turn would affect the supply and demand landscape for used clothing exports and recycled fibers.

Source: Marks & Spencer, New Look, Sainsbury’s Unite to Fight Textile Waste in the U.K. Clothing Industry · Originally published 2026-09-23