Infinited Fibre Company is one of the over 30 renowned fashion brands, manufacturers and recyclers collaborating in the Circular Fashion Partnership – a new initiative to capture and reuse textile waste in Bangladesh, the second-biggest garment manufacturer in the world.

The Circular Fashion Partnership is a cross-sectorial project led by Global Fashion Agenda, with partners Reverse Resources, The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and P4G. It aims to achieve a long-term, scaleable transition to a circular fashion system.

Other participants include the global brands Bershka, Bestseller, C&A, Gina Tricot, Grey State, H&M Group, Kmart Australia, Marks & Spencer, OVS, Pull & Bear, Peak Performance and Target Australia.

The focus of the partnership is on developing and implementing new systems to capture and direct post-production fashion waste back into the production of new fashion products. It is also seeking solutions for the Covid-19 related pile-up of dead stock, and to engage regulators and investors around the current barriers and economic opportunities in Bangladesh.

“Bringing innovation to where textile and garment manufacturing is already happening is an important element of making fashion sustainable,” said Kirsi Terho, key account director at Infinited Fibre Company. “It is wonderful to be part of the Circular Fashion Partnership to do just this. Utilising post-production waste is a great first step in bringing circularity to the Bangladeshi textile industry,”

Bangladesh has the most in-demand and recyclable waste of any garment producing country. Most of its waste is, however, currently being exported and/or downcycled. By scaling the recycling capacity in the country and generating more value from these waste streams, it is possible to make Bangladesh a leader in circularity. Following the hardships in the country generated by Covid-19, this approach also aims build industry resilience for the future.

The partnership aims to build a business model which, together with project learnings, will be presented at the end of 2021 in a ‘Circularity Playbook for Bangladesh’. This will serve as a guide to replicate partnerships in other countries, such as Vietnam and Indonesia.