Turkey Circular Economy Platform, which is developed in collaboration with BCSD Turkey and EBRD, organized the third of its Sectoral Meetings on “Circular Economy Opportunities in the Textile and Fashion Industry” on 19 November 2020 with over 80 participants from across the value chain. The event provided participants a space for efficient conversation on the textile & fashion industry in terms of the circular economy.

BSCD Turkey Project Manager Münevver Bayhan opened the meeting with her welcoming speech and then Circle Economy Sustainable Textile Program Director Jade Wilting, continued with her speech on the Vision of Textile and Circular Economy. Speaking briefly about Circle Economy's area of expertise, Wilting talked about the possible difficulties in the transition from the linear to the circular economy.

By referring to the circularity gap, she underlined that the current national commitments achieve about half of the required emission cuts and that circular economy has the potential to fill about half of the remaining gap. She informed the participants about the Circle Economy Textile programme which has a mission to achieve a zero waste textiles industry by reducing and preventing the material stocks. She concluded her speech by pointing out that a total of 17.7 kg of textiles per resident was thrown away in the Netherlands in 2018. She provided details on how the country tackles this massive amount of waste with related policies and concluded with examples from companies.

The event continued with the speech of Marika Ollaranta from Business Finland / Bio & Circular Finland Program, talking about circular textile applications in Finland, which has a vision to be a pioneer country in terms of sustainable textiles. Ollaranta talked about the demand and the current situation in the textile sector in the world and then briefly talked about the situation of the textile industry in Europe and Finland, where lower raw materials dependency is aimed. She ended her speech by giving examples of circular textile applications in Finland.

Following Ollaranta, E. Kaan Moralı from the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation provided information about the Environmental Labelisation System in Turkey. He emphasized the areas where the Environment Labeling System is put to practice and its importance for circularity. He also pointed out the importance of this system for the producers and consumers.

The event continued with Prof. Şule Altun Kurtoğlu’s speech on Circular Economy and New Opportunities in the Turkish Textile Industry. Prof. Kurtoğlu provided information on The New Circular Economy Action Plan and gave information about the advantages and challenges of Turkey’s textile industry with reference to it. She then provided insight on the governance of circular economy in the Turkish textile industry and she finalized her speech with her suggestions for the textile sector.

Next, the event continued with the presentation of Turkey Circular Economy Platform Project Consultant Ferda Ulutaş İşevi. İsevi talked about the current studies on the Platform on a sectoral basis. Speaking about the general structures of textile production and recycling companies that are members of the platform, İşevi talked about the circular business models implemented by platform members within the scope of the circular economy. Subsequently, she explained the projects supported by The Circular Vouchers, a technical support tool, and included examples of the supported projects in the textile industry.

Afterwards, Anna Ibanez de Arolas took the floor and she presented the Circular Business Opportunities in the South Mediterranean Report, developed in cooperation with BCSD Turkey and SCP/RAC. Arolas emphasized the importance of the guide for the region and briefly provided information on SCP/RAC’s other projects in the region.