Engagement among brands, partners, and retailers in the subject of sustainability appears to have reached encouraging new levels following the success of a packed roster of educational content delivered at this week’s Spring Fair.
Everything from sustainable supply chain strategies, the sustainable trends at retail and the gradual advance of the circular economy, and innovation within waste management and upcycling has been on the bill this past week, as the Birmingham buying show played host to some of the sector’s keenest pioneers of sustainable development.
Headlining Spring Fair’s sustainability content this year, Paul Wright of PDS Ltd took to the Inspiring Retail stage to discuss supply chain strategies, upcycling, and recovery initiatives now shaping the future of retail.
“One of the biggest issues is the supply chain with waste ending up on the beaches of Ghana and the desert in Chile,” he said during his session. “We have to think circular, focusing on the start of the product using low impact materials and the finish looking at prolonged products.”
Having worked with brands such as Dunelm, Chanel, Ikea, and Asda – each of which are implementing various systems to reduce the environmental impact of their businesses – Paul reminded attendees that currently less than 1% of clothing is recycled which results in over 92 million tons of textile waste every year worldwide.
He went on to offer up three simple steps retailers now ought to be working towards, including: designing for longevity and thinking of products as evergreen designs that last forever; to focus on sustainable alternatives to raw materials; and exploring giveback schemes, reuse, upcycling, and using waste to make it into new products.
The circular economic theory was explored further when Products of Change’s own ceo and founder, Helena Mansell-Stopher delivered two sessions at this year’s Spring Fair – diving into the topic of incoming legislation while exploring some of the cutting-edge innovation being implemented at retail to drive sustainable change.
“We’ve all been affected by climate change and we know this isn’t going away. There’s a 71% increase in searches for sustainable products since 20116, 80% of consumers have said they’d pay up to 5% more for sustainably produced goods, and 60% of European’s agree companies are responsible for protecting the environment,” said Helena during her talk.
Outlining key changes in upcoming government legislation, she added: “Going forwards, brands won’t be able to get away with green washing and sustainable ignorance as government legislation and customer expectation will mean there’s nowhere to hide.
“This new legislation will make brands responsible for the waste they generate, and this won’t just affect large brands, your retail partners will be prioritising brands who hit this criteria. So, what’s the answer? Circularity. Circularity is an economic business model.
“Only 6% of global plastic is recycled, we need to be designing differently to allow for disassembly and renewed product lifestyle so the upcycle and resale market isn’t our only avenue.”
In her afternoon session, Sustainable Trends Unwrapped, Helena educated buyers on the importance of design innovation going forward.
“95% of a product’s environmental footprint is determined at the design stage. The industry is already bringing a solution to the market, and all brands need to start navigating these changes now. Commercial recycling-at-scale managed by brands will come with a tax benefit. Lots of retailers and suppliers are looking at 3D design, it doesn’t only save shipping costs but it’s more efficient with an increase hit rate of 20% than physical samples.
“We need to reframe our market perception of how we garner value from products. Something as simple as fit to size packaging will make enormous difference, if you think about it, we pay to ship air.”
Rounding off Spring Fair’s sustainability content this week, Upcycle Labs’ md, Barry Kane took to the stage to showcase the circular approach his business takes to fashion waste management by transforming waste items back into products including bricks used for housing, in-store shelving and POS, and even housewares and gifting items selling through at retail today.
Barry talked attendees through the Upcycle Labs process of collecting waste product from retailers and brands, sorting and redistributing items that can be sold on across Europe, and processing items not fit for resale through the Upcycle Labs shredder. The end fibres are then mixed with a resin an set to a mould to produce useable products – unlocking new value from waste.
Upcycle Labs works with some of the biggest names in fashion and detailed new plans to set up sites in the US, the Middle East and previewed a project in Ghana to stop waste fashion items piling up on beach fronts.
