Death by waste: Fashion and textile circular economy case

In a circular economy model the way we use the textiles needs to change at a fundamental level. A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional economy (fabrication, use and dispose) in which we keep resources in a loop for as much time as possible, try to maintain their value while in use, and repurpose for generation of new products at the end of utilization. The value of the global fashion industry is 3000 Billion dollars that accounts for more than 2% of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (https://fashionunited.com/global-fashion-industry-statistics/). In the last two decades not only the textile industry has doubled the production but also an average global annual consumption of textiles has doubled from 7 to 13 kg per person and reached to the threshold of 100 million tonnes of textiles consumption. More than two thirds of the textile goes to landfill at the end of their use and just around 15% is recycled. Various scientific studies confirm that the disposal nature of fast fashion and throwaway culture is resulting in a serious environmental, health, social and economic concern. One of the global environmental challenges arising from micro-plastic and micro-textile waste entering into the oceans that can end up in fish and eventually food chain. Herein, through a systematic literature review, the significance of circular fashion and textile is highlighted and various approaches for reuse, recycle and repurposing of the textiles waste as well as disruptive scientific breakthroughs, innovations and strategies towards a circular textile economy have been discussed. Looking into the future, remarks have been made in regards to tackling the key challenges in recycling of textile materials in different stages of their manufacturing process.