Five founding participants in the UK have jointly launched a textile circularity collaboration project called 'The Circuit', aiming to convert post-consumer textile waste generated in the UK into future circular raw materials and reduce the industry's reliance on virgin resources. The first phase of the project is planned to launch in January 2027 at Oxfam's site in Batley, Yorkshire, deploying automated textile sorting and pre-processing facilities (ATSPs), supported by a digital reporting framework to enhance supply chain traceability.

Key Points

  • In 2024, the UK generated approximately 1.4 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles, nearly half of which were non-rewearable textiles.
  • The Circuit is jointly initiated by New Look, Marks & Spencer (M&S), Sainsbury's, Oxfam, and Circle-8, with Biffa and Ekman Group as development partners, and Usha Yarns, Kipas, Reju, and Worn Again Technologies as recycling partners.
  • The first-phase operational site is at Oxfam's facility in Batley, Yorkshire, launching in January 2027, focusing on testing and building the operational framework needed for future scaling.

The UK fashion and textile industry contributes £62 billion (approximately US$82.15 billion) to the UK economy, supporting 1.3 million jobs, making it one of the UK's largest sectors. At the same time, the fashion industry faces increasing scrutiny over emissions and global environmental impact. In 2024, the UK generated approximately 1.4 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles, nearly half of which were non-rewearable, meaning there remains a significant investment gap in the infrastructure needed for recycling, reuse, and regeneration. Consumer acceptance of second-hand clothing and circular consumption continues to rise, but the systems for processing end-of-life garments at scale are still in their early stages.

The Circuit builds on the Innovate UK-funded ACT project and is positioned as a new collaborative model that connects retailers, textile recycling partners, automated sorting operators, regeneration companies, digital innovators, and manufacturers. Each founding party has its own focus: New Look stated its participation aims to explore how to build a more resilient circular supply chain over the long term; Marks & Spencer said its Plan A for Another Life programme aims to give 5 million items a 'second life' through rewear, repair, resale, and recycling by 2030, but better recycling solutions are still needed when textiles reach end of life; Sainsbury's Tu clothing emphasised the need to learn through practical testing and shape the circular textile economy.

At the operational level, the first phase will not scale up directly but will focus on testing, learning, and establishing an operational framework. The Batley site will adopt automated sorting and pre-processing facilities combined with a digital reporting framework, following a localised processing approach to support both mechanical and chemical recycling pathways, processing discarded clothing near collection points into high-quality raw materials for regional and global textile manufacturing. The project team believes that localised processing, beyond environmental benefits, also helps create jobs and brings new regional manufacturing opportunities.

The development company behind the project responsible for building the infrastructure and commercial network is Circle-8 Textile Ecosystems. Its CEO and co-founder Cyndi Rhoades stated that retailers participating in building the circular textile value chain today will be best positioned to influence and benefit from it tomorrow; no single organisation can build a circular textile value chain alone.

For the used clothing industry, the highlight of this project lies in transforming non-rewearable textiles from a 'recycling challenge' into a standardised raw material source; its combined approach of automated sorting, traceable digital reporting, and textile-to-textile regeneration may become a reference model for UK retail-led circular supply chains.

Source: UK Retailers Launch 'The Circuit' to Tackle Textile Waste · Originally published 2026-09-29