• AMS Institute

• By students

• Waste & Clean,
• Economics & Business,
• Nature & Environment

Msc Thesis - Redeveloping urban waste streams through local production networks for circular textile- and apparel innovation

MADE Student Project

This thesis investigates opportunities for creating local production networks for the textile- and apparel industry in Amsterdam, based on circular economy principles. The focus of the study is local waste streams in metropolitan regions, defining waste streams as input for circular textile- and apparel development. The main research question is “What are potential local production network (LPN) models for circular textile- and apparel innovation in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area?”

As current fibres and textiles in the fashion industry are characterized by their polluting nature, and innovative circular fibres lack data on their environmental impact, an action research approach is used in order to discover the potential of circular fashion from textile waste streams in Amsterdam. Whilst, design, knowledge and technical innovation are available locally, stakeholders in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area seem to have much difficulty in finding the right partners and direction for the circular transition. For local production to make an impact in the global fashion value chain, more collaboration and strategy is needed to guide circular fashion developments in a direction to upscale innovation. Through implementing design for circularity, mapping available resources, improved textile waste collection systems, automated sorting systems and pilots for innovative feedstock recycling methods circular fashion can be improved locally. However, this transition can only disrupt the current industry when research from knowledge institutes, experience from practitioners and policy from governmental organizations join forces and collaborate for a circular fashion future.

References for this thesis can be found inside the document.

Media