Textiles

Through targeted initiatives, funding opportunities, and cutting-edge research, we aim to revolutionise how Scotland interacts with textiles - from production to disposal.

Product stewardship is a policy approach that considers the responsibilities of each actor in the supply chain and whoever designs, produces, sells or uses a product takes responsibility for minimising that product’s environmental impact. 

One of the Scottish Government’s priority actions in Scotland’s Circular Economy & Waste Route Map to 2030 is to publish a Product Stewardship Plan to set out how we will tackle the environmental impact of priority products. The Scottish Government’s Route Map recognises the need for a strategic approach to textiles.   

Zero Waste Scotland aims to rewire Scotland’s economic system to drive a reduction of our consumption of natural resources through increased circularity and zero waste. There is an opportunity for holistic, collaborative policy thinking to remove barriers to circular practices and support a thriving ecosystem for a sustainable textiles industry in Scotland which benefits people and planet through a just, circular transition to net zero.   

Starting in 2023, Zero Waste Scotland began research on product stewardship considerations for textiles in Scotland aimed to develop recommendations for a replicable evidence-based approach to support product stewardship policy thinking. This is also intended to inform the Scottish Government’s Product Stewardship Plan for Textiles as outlined in the Circular Economy & Waste Route Map.

An interim summary report was prepared to provide high-level, initial findings intended for discussion with stakeholders at our workshop in March 2025.

The final report will be published in 2025 and will provide a detailed view of textiles material flow across the Scottish value chain, stakeholder insights to required policy interventions and analysis of potential measures that take account of practicality, feasibility and impact. 

If you require a copy of the interim summary report please contact us.

Zero Waste Scotland administered the Circular Textile Fund on behalf of the Scottish Government. 

The Circular Textile Fund ran between June 2022 and March 2024, calling on organisations based in Scotland to come forward with innovative circular economy projects that could reduce textile consumption, increase reuse and reprocessing, reduce the environmental impact of textiles, and improve circular design of textiles to keep them in use for longer.  

The Circular Textile Fund received a lot of interest from the sector, and a high number of applications. However only a small number of these were able to propose projects which fully met the fund’s criteria, the match funding condition and could be delivered within the fund’s timescales.  

To support applicants through the process communications materials were developed detailing what the fund was seeking to support in terms of circular innovation and weekly online drop-in sessions were arranged to provide a space for applicants to discuss the application process and ask questions before submitting.  

Successful stage 1 applicants were invited by the funding panel, made up of representatives from Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and UK Fashion and Textiles, to submit a stage 2 application and additional support was provided in the form of an organisational health check and support with their carbon calculations.  

Five projects were successful and offered funding however only three were in a position to either partially or fully draw down the funding.  

These were:

• Industrial Nature, for a project looking to create innovative new textiles products made with wool and hemp (£254,053)
• Seadyes, for a project looking to develop naturally sourced pigments for dying textiles that are extracted from algae (£35,287)
• Glencraft, for a project to develop luxury mattress rental for the hotel sector (£3,747)

The successful three projects drew down a total of £293,087.