Textile Exchange Conference highlights need for collaboration, conservation and a holistic approach

The annual Textile Exchange Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, brought together the leading brands and players in the global fashion and textile industry. Around 1,600 participants – from farmers and material innovators to apparel manufacturers and recyclers – discussed innovative approaches to a sustainable supply chain in nearly 50 presentations and with over 80 exhibitors. Digital solution providers and non-profit organisations such as the Apparel Impact Institute, the Fair Labor Association, and Fashion for Good were also represented. More than 80 exhibitors reflected this diversity along the supply chain.

A central theme of the conference was the need for collaboration. After all, the numbers speak for themselves: 2024 saw a record 132 million tons of fibres produced globally, up from 125 million tons in 2023. “That is an increase of 34 million tons since the Paris Agreement was adopted,” said Textile Exchange CEO Claire Bergkamp in her opening speech. She added a sobering statistic: “That now equates to four tons of fibre being produced every second.”

“Polyester remains the dominant fibre, making up 59 percent of the total output. 88 percent of that is still fossil based and it remains the single largest contributor of emissions, responsible for about 43 percent of our overall impact,” continued Bergkamp. She cited the increase in the amount of recycled polyester from 8.9 to 9.3 million tons within a single year as a "sign of progress."

“But we also have to take a kind of reality check here,” she cautioned: “We know that this type of recycled polyester is not a sustainable path forward. We cannot build a circular textile system on another industry's waste. Relying on models means that we are relying on a shrinking waste source. As other industries claim their waste source, we are going to be left exposed unless we build our own closed models.”

Recycling, the need of the hour

Among those closed models that are urgently needed is recycling, especially textile-to-textile (T2T) recycling, which is why at least four sessions were dedicated to this topic. Adam Gardiner, recycled lead at the Textile Exchange, presented the preliminary findings of the 'Textile-to-Textile Global Fiber 2030 Project' in partnership with Fashion for Good, Reverse Resources and Texroad. The complete study will be published in early 2026. The project identified 520 T2T recyclers globally, the majority of which process natural fibres.

Brands play an important role when it comes to pre-consumer textile waste. “We started actively working with our Tier 1 suppliers two years before, basically giving them the waste management guidelines, implementing a policy, which is also including a training on how to responsibly handle waste. That was followed by an action where we allow suppliers to digitally register the waste that they generate and then do the matchmaking and connect that to the recyclers within our network,” explained Suhas Khandagale, material manager - global material & components team, at the H&M Group, in the session “Towards Impactful T2T Recycling Systems”.

“There are huge volumes of post-consumer textiles. Very complex mixes, and lots of them. We need a coordinated plan to get to recycling systems.”

Cyndi Rhoades, CEO and co-founder of Circle-8 Textile Ecosystems, a UK-based advanced textiles sorting and pre-processing facility for non-reusable textiles, pointed to the main problem in the same session: “There are huge volumes of post-consumer textiles. Very complex mixes, and lots of them. We need a coordinated plan to get to recycling systems.” With in-store collections by brands and retailers supplying only an “incredibly small” percentage of those non-reusable textiles, it takes all kinds and new approaches.

“Our current collection systems end up sending or exporting our post-consumer textiles to other regions. So there are many kinds of models and new approaches that we need to take into account as we look at moving to fibre-to-fibre recycling. The challenge that we have with non-rewearable textiles is that they are extremely low value. And as we move to fibre-to-fibre, they need to stay low value. Because if we want to get these materials into mechanical open loop and chemical recycling, and we want the industry uptake, the cost needs to remain low. So that is why we see this move to multiple large-scale automated sorting facilities,” added Rhoades.

Ebru Ozkucuk Guler, chief sustainability officer at Re&Up Recycling Technologies, pointed to another challenge, that of post-commercial textiles. Those are non-fashion textiles used at institutions, hospitals, the hospitality industry, corporate wear, workwear and the like. “It is not easy to recycle because after reusing, rewashing and after a certain period of time, you have to do maximum mechanical recycling. And still they are not okay to use because the coatings are still there, the chemicals. That is why another treatment is needed, which is the homework for today.”

In the session “Recycling as Catalyst”, Reju CEO Patrik Frisk admitted being “all fired up” because “I feel that I can make a difference.” In terms of what is needed, he said “it isn’t just one thing - technology, upstream, building the systems but also building resilience into the system; it has to make sense economically.”

His co-panelist Peter Majeranowski, co-founder and CEO of Circ agreed: “Turning waste into a product is great business.” In this context, moderator Chris Denson, founder of Visionology pointed to Ecoalf founder Javier Goyeneche’s eye-opening statement “waste is only waste if you waste it”. Something to ponder.

Data matters

A number of sessions centred around data, namely how high-quality, transparent and region-specific data is critical for setting realistic goals and enabling systemic change. “Tools like Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) must be applied thoughtfully, with awareness of limitations, within a holistic approach that includes impacts such as biodiversity, soil health, and livelihoods. Making this data accessible to all stakeholders, from farmers through to brands, is critical to driving change we can measure,” cautions Textile Exchange.

Jonathan Hall, managing partner of the sustainable transformation practice at Kantar, highlighted that data gives us reasons to be positive, and that “when we dig beneath the noise, it is clear consumers still care”. Despite the value-action-gap, i.e. people claiming to be interested in sustainability issues but not showing the same in their actions, 67 percent of people still believe environmentalism is ‘extremely important’ because of the increasing frequency, intensity and proximity of climate change impacts.

“Climate change is coming at us at great speed with all of its associated social and environmental disruptions. So what we think of today and label as sustainability will very rapidly become business as usual,” emphasised Hall and cautioned companies not to be complacent or act too late, using a quote from Mark Carney, prime minister of Canada, “if some companies and industries fail to adjust to this new world, they'll simply fail to exist”.

Materials matter

Materials took centre stage at the Textile Exchange Conference with quite a few sessions dedicated to man-made cellulosic fibres, wool, cotton, mohair, leather and synthetic fibres. After all, Textile Exchange remains the main supplier of global data on the different materials used by the industry, culminating in the annual Materials Market report.

But much has changed on the materials front since the Organic Exchange was founded in 2002: While at the turn of the millennium, global polyester fibre production was just about catching up to the global cotton production, 25 years later, the tables have turned drastically: While the volume of fibre production of cotton and other plant-based fibres has not even doubled, that of polyester fibres has more than quadrupled. This trend required the Organic Exchange to change its orientation and thus its name: In 2007, it became the Textile Exchange to “expand [its] mission into other fibre types”.

In a break-out session on Tuesday, a day dedicated to directions of travel, a panel representing farmers and material producers discussed how the focus on preferred materials needs to shift to preferred production systems to enable a more outcomes-driven, holistic approach. Their insights reinforced a clear message, namely that resilience requires systemic transformation and shared responsibility across the value chain.

The consensus of a break-out session on Wednesday, a day dedicated to enabling environments, was that the focus on preferred materials needs to shift to preferred production systems, thus enabling a more outcomes-driven, holistic approach. This should start with identifying which materials offer the most potential. Speakers promoted the need to screen material origins, understand regional dependencies and assess conservation value. Collaboration with local stakeholders is essential to design effective, landscape-level interventions.

Finance matters

Multiple sessions discussed on Wednesday how economic barriers like high upfront costs, uneven risk and limited access to finance for producers are slowing the transition needed to close the supply-demand gap, meet climate and nature goals and safeguard livelihoods. Collective financial responsibility through long-term contracts, blended finance and shared investment models, were highlighted as essential to ease pressure on producers. In addition, bridging the gap between sustainability goals and actual progress requires more effective engagement with decision-makers across businesses.


In Thursday’s session on “Designing Meaningful Action in Hotspot Landscapes”, panelists spoke of the need to identify environmental and social "hotspots" within supply chains as a crucial first step toward implementing landscape-level solutions, thus enabling nature-positive outcomes on a larger scale that take soil health, biodiversity, water, human rights and livelihoods and animal welfare into account.

Attendees learned how this approach enables companies to see where the fashion industry’s footprint overlaps with the world’s most critical ecosystems, leading to a prioritisation of efforts where they are most needed and most impactful. The session also emphasised that integrating science into decision-making is needed, as well as pinpointing these areas early. By preparing in such a way, businesses can align their sustainability strategies with real-world conditions, setting the stage for context-specific, collaborative interventions that support both nature and communities.

“Nature-positive outcomes can really only happen at these larger scales.”

Nicole Flores, director of fashion, nature and regenerative landscapes at the Conservation International Foundation, made the case for landscape-based approaches versus project-based investments: “Nature-positive outcomes can really only happen at these larger scales, like the scale of a watershed or the scale of an ecosystem. And the alternative approach of investing in single projects or groups of projects may have positive impacts, like improved soil quality in that region or improved local biodiversity but with a project-based investment, we really have no idea how those impacts are laddering up to the system-wide outcomes that we hope to achieve, like replenishing a watershed or restoring habitat connectivity to reduce species extinction risk.”

For her, it takes a holistic view of how impacts are ‘laddering up’ to properly address climate and nature threats and risks that threaten supply chains and the communities involved while building resilience in the process: “With the landscape approach, we have this holistic view of how different elements are interacting to build resilience around our businesses and around people and around nature,” summed up Flores.

Slow(ing) growth matters

More than 20 years ago, Textile Exchange started rather small as a representation of organic cotton farmers worldwide, promoting global organic and fair trade production. Today, it has turned into a “global non-profit working closely with every sector involved in the fashion and textile supply chain” according to its website. That has also meant asking global players to the table - giants like Adidas, C&A, H&M, Inditex, Kering, Primark and others have long supported Textile Exchange and the conference as participants, panel members and even sponsors. While collaboration is certainly needed, their presence can make it awkward to address the elephant in the room: slow growth and alternate growth models that require a focus on circularity.

Until date, none of the global players following linear production models based on overconsumption has stepped forward to announce a reduction in production volumes. Or a shift to alternative revenue creation models. In stores, for example, brands could offer style consultations and retailers could provide virtual try-ons on site, for a small fee. With stores selling experiences and brands their immersive worlds, there are revenue opportunities galore.

As Tariq Fancy, former chief investment officer for sustainable investing at BlackRock and founder of personal development non-profit Rumie, said in his keynote address on Wednesday, “there is a whole bunch of things that may not increase any of your revenues, but it will lower your costs. And again, really, if you are trying to fight for shareholder value, it is driven by profits, not revenue.”

He also pointed to a second truth of a winning product that is efficient and resilient in terms of supply chains. “Maybe it is something local that is being developed in different parts of the world or at different local levels. Local operational improvements that are driven by local needs on the ground.” And a third truth - “it is what I call triple B, which is ‘boring but brilliant’. Those are sometimes where the real opportunities are, especially when the hype recedes. And boring sometimes wins,” said Fancy.

With all these opportunities out there, why cling to outdated business models? One brave audience member raised this question during a foundational session on policy updates - “why can't we just press pause on the new stuff until the old stuff's finished? It just feels a bit wrong.” While the question was acknowledged, it was not answered and moved to the next comment until time ran out.

Time has indeed run out. How can the fashion industry meet its sustainability targets by 2030 (reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent, for example) if its production is still going full steam ahead? Instead, the top fashion brands are busy showing off measures that look good in annual reports but are a drop in the bucket - reducing greenhouse gas emissions at Tier 1 level (or offsetting them), supporting a slowing of deforestation efforts on one hand but using up virgin resources on the other, and the like.

While many smaller and younger brands with circular business models do wonderful work, it will not be enough to elevate the industry as a whole. Thus, promises of collaboration and lasting change have a hollow ring to them at this point.

FashionUnited participated in the conference virtually and was invited by Textile Exchange to attend.