Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) has established four key criteria for mapping zero waste fashion business models, pushing policymakers and the fashion sector to think beyond product circularity and ecodesign.

Beyond Circular Fashion - a New Business Model for the Fashion Industry, the latest ZWE report, maps the current situation of the fast fashion business model, which is based on overconsumption, resource depletion, social exploitation, fossil-based fibres, and greenwashing.

According to a report released as part of the EU Textile Strategy, current techniques and initiatives to make fashion fair and sustainable are insufficient in combating harmful business models.

To stop the current trend and make way for business models that are fully in line with the circular economy and planetary boundaries, the ZWE report lists four important criteria that must be met at the same time:

• Design for physical and emotional durability;
• Demand-driven production to phase out unsolds and discounts;
• Full supply chain transparency and traceability post-sale;
• Extending the use phase after first ownership.

Theresa Morsen, Waste Policy Officer at ZWE, stated: "With this report, we are establishing guidelines for businesses to become truly sustainable, ending overproduction and consumption to respect planetary boundaries. This will help scale up sustainable business models, and ZWE intends to empower pioneers in this field."

The Beyond Circular Fashion report builds on ZWE's New Energy for Europe manifesto (November 2022). In its manifesto, ZWE urges the European Union to replace the current economic development model with one based on well-being, sufficiency, and resilience, with a focus on the need to reduce resource use and improve efficiency to stay within planetary boundaries.

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Source: Zero Waste Europe