UK retailers M&S, New Look, and Sainsbury's, together with charity Oxfam and developer Circle-8, have jointly launched The Circuit, a textile circularity project that aims to channel the approximately 1.4 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles generated in the UK each year into fibre-to-fibre recycling systems, turning clothing that would otherwise become waste into regenerated raw materials. The first phase of the project is scheduled to begin in early 2027 at Oxfam's site in Batley, Yorkshire, focusing on testing automated sorting and establishing a fully traceable reporting framework.

Key Points

  • M&S, New Look, Sainsbury's, Oxfam, and Circle-8 have jointly launched The Circuit, connecting every stage of the textile value chain.
  • In 2024, the UK generated approximately 1.4 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles, nearly half of which can no longer be worn.
  • The first phase begins in early 2027 at Oxfam's Batley site in Yorkshire, focusing on automated sorting and a traceable reporting framework.

The Circuit is positioned as a collaborative mechanism that connects the entire chain: fashion retailers, textile recycling partners, automated sorting operators, regeneration companies, digital technology providers, and manufacturers are brought into a single pathway. The goal is to establish the physical infrastructure, industry collaboration, and commercial conditions needed to make fibre-to-fibre recycling industrially viable. Participants hope to transform post-consumer textiles generated domestically in the UK into a stable, predictable supply of circular raw materials.

Supporting this project is the real pressure of UK clothing disposal. In 2024, the UK generated approximately 1.4 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles, nearly half of which are estimated to no longer be wearable. At the same time, demand for recycled textile materials continues to rise, yet systems capable of consistently producing recycled materials from post-consumer clothing remain at an early stage. The Circuit is designed to fill this gap, opening new pathways for the collection, sorting, and pre-processing of clothing that can no longer be worn.

According to the plan, automated sorting and pre-processing facilities will be built near the point where clothing reaches end of life, responsible for identifying, separating, and preparing materials, then converting them into reliable feedstock for regional and global supply chains. These materials will serve both mechanical and chemical recycling technologies, enabling UK clothing to become raw material for regional and international textile manufacturing. Participating retailers will also help shape a resilient value chain supporting next-generation circular textiles by developing diverse products and market pathways.

As the development company behind The Circuit, Circle-8 is responsible for building the infrastructure, partnerships, and commercial framework needed to connect clothing recycling with future circular material supply. Its core work is precisely the construction of automated sorting and pre-processing facilities, providing existing regeneration companies and emerging recycling technologies with stable, high-quality feedstock. Once the first phase launches, retailers and specialist partners will collaborate at Oxfam's Batley site to test automated sorting, identify new applications and markets for circular materials, strengthen connections with regeneration companies, and explore practical operating models to support the project's future expansion.

Oxfam plays a key role in identification and diversion, drawing on decades of textile recycling and reuse experience to separate clothing that can still be worn from materials that cannot, and operating the automated sorting equipment at the Batley site, guiding each item of clothing toward the most appropriate next stage. For the UK clothing retail industry, which faces EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) pressures and recycled content requirements, The Circuit attempts to answer the industry's shared dilemma: who pays for the next chapter of a garment's life, and how to make a fibre-to-fibre closed loop commercially viable.

Source: M&S, New Look, Sainsbury's, and Oxfam Unite to Close the Loop on Clothing Waste - EME Outlook Magazine · Originally published 2026-10-01