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Explaining the scale of the problem, Cunningham pointed to statistics showing that, between 2000 and 2014, garment production doubled, consumption increased by 60 per cent but people were keeping their clothes for only half as long, with 73 per cent of garments ending up in landfill.
“We have to fundamentally rethink how we use, reuse, recapture and recover the products that we develop, and start ultimately to produce less because we’re on this seemingly never ending merry-go-round of extraction, production, short consumption and disposal,” she said.
“We believe the industry really needs to start looking at alternative business models, like rental, like resale, which promise to do more with less and reduce the total environmental impact required to fulfil the needs of a growing population.”
Denby agreed: “We cannot solve the problems of today using the same business models and corporate structures that were used to create them in the first place.
“It’s really imperative that we look at alternative forms of generating revenue rather than doing the same thing over and over again and expect the results to be different. I think circular business models are an excellent example of a systematic change that has massive potential to create a different result.”
Gillick-Daniels told how WRAP had carried out analysis on the potential of rental and resale, in conjunction with the World Resource Institute, and had found strong evidence of consumer demand.
“The consumer insights that we have got in the last year have shown that, based on where consumers shop at the moment, there isn’t a material difference in their interest in reuse business models. Or to put it another way, if someone shops at the low end or the high end of the market, they are just as interested in trying rental.”
If you are interested in getting updated on the current state of circular apparel business models and the challenges and opportunities facing them, this episode is for you.
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