The UK fashion retail industry is trying to move 'turning old clothes into raw materials' from a slogan to scaled implementation. New Look, Marks & Spencer (M&S), Sainsbury's, and Oxfam have confirmed their participation in a textile recycling collaboration program called The Circuit, which connects retailers, textile recycling partners, automated sorters, regeneration companies, digital technology providers, and manufacturers, with the goal of amplifying the circular textile value chain.

The backdrop to this action is the UK's considerable stock of old clothing. The latest Circular Gap Report released by Circle Economy and Deloitte points out that about one-third of economic value is lost each year due to linear resource use, with waste in the fashion industry particularly prominent. In 2024, the UK generated approximately 1.4 million metric tons of post-consumer textiles, about half of which were non-rewearable textiles.

Participants will first test and consolidate an operational framework in real-world conditions.</p>

The initial phase of The Circuit focuses on exploring and piloting mechanical and chemical recycling routes, converting post-consumer textiles into raw materials that can be reused in manufacturing. Circle-8, responsible for building the infrastructure, partnerships, and commercial framework, will incorporate automated textile sorting technology and other pre-processing facilities. The CEO and co-founder of Circle-8 expressed roughly: retailers participating today in building the circular textile value chain are best positioned tomorrow to influence and benefit from it; no single organization can build this chain alone.

The first phase is scheduled to launch in January 2027 at Oxfam's site in Batley, Yorkshire. The initial stage focuses on automated textile sorting and establishing a reporting framework to enhance the traceability of circular materials; at the same time, the plan will also focus on connecting with regeneration companies and exploring new operating models. Oxfam will use its experience in textile recycling and reuse to guide the sorting process, and this charity will operate the automated sorting equipment.

Rachel Cosgrove-Pearce, Retail Director at Oxfam, said that Oxfam has been giving clothes a second life for nearly 80 years, and experience shows that extending the lifespan of clothing as much as possible is one of the most effective ways to reduce fashion's impact on the planet, but for textiles that can no longer be worn or reused, better solutions are still urgently needed; building infrastructure to recover valuable fibers from end-of-use textiles is an important part of creating a fashion system that uses fewer virgin resources and reduces environmental harm, and The Circuit brings together the expertise and investment needed to scale it. Lynda Petherick, CEO of New Look, stated that this move aims to help build a more resilient, more circular long-term supply chain.

In related developments, during New York Climate Week, M&S and Levi Strauss & Co., with support from SE Advisory Services, launched the Fashion Renewable Collaborative (FRC), aimed at driving suppliers to switch to renewable energy and providing implementation support to accelerate the adoption of clean electricity in the global fashion supply chain. Katharine Beacham, Head of Sustainability and Materials for Fashion, Home and Beauty at M&S, said the program builds on its supply chain decarbonization project Re:Spark and will provide suppliers with hands-on support, resources, and more access to renewable electricity to help the supply chain make changes.

For the old clothing trade and textile recycling industry, the significance of The Circuit lies in directly connecting the 'recycling end' with the 'manufacturing end': using automated sorting and a traceable reporting framework as foundational capabilities, then channeling the output of mechanical and chemical recycling back into the production system. This means that in the future, non-rewearable old clothes in the UK market may no longer be merely raw materials for export or downcycling, but are expected to become inputs for local textile-to-textile circularity.

Source: New Look, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Oxfam join forces to scale textile recycling · Originally published on 2026-09-23