Sustainability & ComplianceTKT-8D41
M&S, New Look and Sainsbury's back UK circular textile venture
New Look, M&S and Sainsbury's Tu have joined Circle-8 and Oxfam to launch The Circuit, a UK post-consumer textile recovery model starting automated sorting in January 2027.
- Cut
- September 29, 2026
- Sew
- 4 min
- Ticket
- TKT-8D41
Construction
New Look, M&S, Sainsbury's Tu Clothing, Oxfam and Circle-8 Textile Ecosystems have launched The Circuit, a collaborative UK post-consumer textile recovery and recycling model.
The first phase begins in January 2027, focused on automated textile sorting plus a traceability reporting framework.
The UK generated approximately 1.4 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles in 2024, almost half of it non-reusable.
UK fashion and textile industry contributes £62bn (US$82.15bn) to the economy and supports 1.3 million jobs, per Oxford Economics and UKFT.
New Look, M&S and Sainsbury's Tu Clothing have signed on to The Circuit, a UK-based collaborative model for post-consumer textile recovery and recycling developed with Circle-8 Textile Ecosystems and Oxfam. The first phase begins in January 2027, with automated textile sorting as its initial focus.
The partners describe the initiative as an attempt to build circular raw material supply chains from the UK's post-consumer textile stream. Circle-8, the London-based development company behind the model, is building the infrastructure, partnerships and commercial frameworks, connecting textile recovery with future circular material supply for existing and emerging recyclers.
The commercial context is substantial. Oxford Economics and the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) put the UK fashion and textile industry's contribution at £62bn (US$82.15bn), supporting 1.3 million jobs. Against that, the UK generated approximately 1.4 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles in 2024, according to figures cited in the announcement, and almost half of that volume is non-reusable. WRAP separately estimates the UK discards around 336,000 tonnes of clothing each year.
Why retailers are committing
A large share of the non-reusable fraction reflects the growing synthetic content in clothing, which existing systems cannot recycle or reuse at scale. The Circuit's first phase will test, learn and develop what is needed to create operations that can scale — specifically automated sorting and pre-processing close to where textiles are generated, turning them into feedstock for regional and global supply chains. The partners also plan to develop mechanical and chemical recycling processes and a framework for traceability reporting.
"If we want circularity to become a meaningful part of the fashion industry, we need to move beyond ambition and start building the infrastructure and partnerships that can make it work," Lynda Petherick, CEO at New Look, said in the announcement. "The Circuit partnership is an opportunity to make this work in practice, bringing different parts of the industry together to find new uses for textiles that might otherwise go to waste. For New Look, being involved means learning now, and helping to shape solutions that can work at scale, and building greater resilience into our supply chain for the future."
Katharine Beacham, Head of Sustainability & Materials in Fashion, Home & Beauty at M&S, framed the venture as a route to viable disposal pathways. "The Circuit is an important step forward, bringing together organisations from across the retail industry to help create viable routes for non-reusable textiles and support a more circular future for fashion," she said.
Ben Smith, Managing Director of Sainsbury's Tu Clothing, pointed to the domestic feedstock opportunity. "Creating a more circular future for textiles will take collaboration and innovation across the whole industry," he said. "The Circuit is an exciting opportunity to work alongside partners from across the value chain to explore how post-consumer textiles generated here in the UK can be given a new life as valuable raw materials."
The supply-chain mechanics
Oxfam's role brings second-hand collection and charity retail infrastructure into the network. Rachel Cosgrove-Pearce, Retail Director at Oxfam, said: "Developing the infrastructure to recover valuable fibres from end-of-use textiles is an important part of building a fashion system that uses fewer virgin resources and creates less environmental harm, and The Circuit brings together the expertise and investment needed to move this forward at scale."
Cyndi Rhoades, CEO and Co-Founder of Circle-8 Textile Ecosystems, positioned early participation as a competitive play. "The retailers who help build circular textile value chains today will be best positioned to influence and benefit from them tomorrow," she said. "Through The Circuit, we're powering the relationships, infrastructure and commercial frameworks needed to make that possible. No one organisation can create a circular textile value chain alone, and we look forward to welcoming others to The Circuit."
The Circuit is designed to link retailers, textile recovery partners, automated sorting operators, recyclers, digital innovators and manufacturers. Its stated targets are consistency, scale and commercial conditions that accelerate textile recycling viability.
The wider figures behind the push remain stark. McKinsey estimates around 100 billion clothing items are made each year; UNEP attributes an estimated 10% of global carbon emissions and roughly 92 million tonnes of annual waste to the fashion industry; the European Parliament reports less than 1% of all textiles are recycled worldwide.
What it forces
For UK sourcing teams, The Circuit signals that post-consumer textile feedstock is moving toward commercial infrastructure, not just pilot philanthropy. Buyers and suppliers with significant UK sales now face a decision: join a traceability and recovery framework early, or wait to inherit the commercial terms others set.
via sustainabilitymag.com (Original)
More from Priya Raman
Show full bio
News editor covering industry trends and analytics at Softgoods Report.
86 articles