Circular urban production

Policy Roadmap for a local, circular EU textiles sector

This policy roadmap contains recommendations to encourage urban manufacturing based on the research and results of the FABRIX Project.

1/ Determine the starting point

Log the current conditions of the local textile sector, both circular and linear. Identify needs and barriers; hotspots of activity, community and business clusters; resource use and material flows in the local ecosystem to understand where the system is heading from and towards.

Align the narrative conveyed by different governmental bodies on the rationale behind circular or regenerative economic transition. This will remove feelings of insecurity and disjointedness that results from incoherent narratives, and will relieve SMEs from the pressure of proving their worth.

Engage local actors in determining minimum/maximum requirements and KPIs that they can reach in the short/mid/long term. As this is an ecosystem-wide transition, it requires collaborations and agreements with clear goals.

Set up a monitoring system and reflection moments to keep track of progress, and develop contingency plans together based on future conditions. Determine clear roles and responsibilities among the value chain actors through the transition process.

2/ Configure the system

Facilitating good working conditions and supporting employees in the transition is crucial to re-configure from a linear to a circular system. Since both local and circular urban production are labour-intensive, taxation on labour costs is specifically highlighted as a regulation that hinders circular business operations. Redirecting taxation towards linear material use instead of labour may incentivise businesses to use alternative materials and more readily employ locally.

Expand and strengthen systems for collecting, sorting and redistributing textiles. Since the default linear business operations (or business-as-usual) may be more cost-efficient and widely tested, it is necessary to incentivise and facilitate circular production.

Establish multi-purpose hubs across the city, either each specialising in a specific service or offering multiple of the below:
- a material depot and a micro-workspace to revalue, repair and reuse reclaimed materials
- a knowledge hub, where local actors can acquire or exchange new knowledge
- training, up-/re-skilling hub, where local actors can acquire a (new) circular skill.

3/ Set up robust support

Assign and support the role of Facilitator to actors who can work as intermediaries in overseeing business networks and coordinating local actors towards the circular transition. These facilitators support SMEs in network-building and synergetic collaborations.

Facilitators support organisations to comply with incoming EU, national and local legislations – which are a lot for SMEs to keep track of – through information, coordination, and administrative assistance.

For legislation requiring financial investments, this might involve business subscriptions to facilitator-led group guidance.

Repurpose infrastructure from linear production to circular production (e.g. waste to sorting spaces, or creating closed-loop water and chemical reuse systems). Spaces would ideally be collaboratively maintained by facilitators and municipalities to prevent abandonment.

Create digital or physical spaces where supply chain actors can get acquainted with one another, access resources, and communicate beyond their immediate suppliers and customers to increase and localise the flow of materials, ideas and troubleshooting.

The neighbourhoods where (innovative) SMEs cluster tend to become popular cultural hubs for a variety of creatives, bringing with it attention from investors and developers. To protect the attractive nature of these areas, the dynamics of gentrification must explicitly be tackled throughout urban development plans, for example through rent caps.

4/ Make the transition visible

Public procurement processes must lead by example by promoting local circular textile producers. Pilots can be used in these cases to support and uplift local actors. Further promotion could be done through subsidising private procurement of local innovative circular textile applications.

Create opportunities to showcase the work of local circular manufacturers. This may include displays and posters in public spaces, and integrated school programmes that teach the younger generations the importance of circular manufacturing. Encourage participation in the marketing process to generate a sense of community and collective accomplishment.

The fastest way to kill an innovative SME is by limiting their space to grow or scale up, which gives global competitors the chance to undercut their innovations. Provide opportunities and physical spaces for businesses to grow at a low initial cost, either through subsidies or by creating shared workspaces with flexible space/size depending on fluctuating working capacities.

Conclusion

Enacting these changes in policy and collaboration agreements throughout the circular textiles transition pathway makes it possible for policy makers to create an environment of belonging and accountability among local value chain actors.

Contributed by TU Delft.