Collaborative Initiative in Türkiye Targets ‘Systemic’ Circular Change
As the fashion industry looks to scale circularity, one of the key areas to address is post-industrial waste. Compared to post-consumer waste streams, recovering materials from production offers an easier path to closed-loop systems since the content of the textiles is known.
Global Fashion Agenda’s Global Circular Fashion Forum (GCFF) is centered on escalating post-industrial recycling in key manufacturing hubs. Following initiatives in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Indonesia, the GFA just announced a new partnership in Türkiye during Sustainability Talks Istanbul in December.
Circular Fashion Partnership: Türkiye, organized by GFA in collaboration with Rematters, will focus on recovering and recycling post-industrial waste in the nation. With funding from H&M Foundation, the initiative will also see Reverse Resources, Closed Loop Fashion and Circle Economy Foundation participate as implementation partners.
Türkiye was chosen as the backdrop for this latest program due to its position as a vertically integrated textile producing powerhouse. Türkiye is also nearby to the European Union and is facing growing regulatory pressure to reduce carbon emissions and waste. Supporting suppliers in addressing and complying with changing policies is a key component of the initiative.
“Türkiye represents a critical opportunity to accelerate circularity at scale,” said Federica Marchionni, CEO of Global Fashion Agenda. “Through the Circular Fashion Partnership: Türkiye, we aim to foster local collaboration and unlock innovation that can serve as a model for textile-to-textile recycling globally. Such partnerships can establish scalable systems that not only address textile waste, but also contribute to climate goals, regulatory alignment and long-term competitiveness. This is a vital step in our mission to support a just and circular transition.”
Building on Türkiye’s verticality and capabilities, the partnership will focus on enhancing localized waste recovery, sorting and fiber-to-fiber recycling, creating economic value out of waste. Within factories, the initiative will implement textile waste management systems and forge connections between manufacturers and recyclers to encourage the recovery of industrial waste, with traceability tools helping to enhance visibility for waste. Factories will also undergo waste management assessments, and GFA will support with training.
Set to kick off in early 2026, Circular Fashion Partnership: Türkiye will engage all stakeholders in the value chain with events like matchmaking sessions, roundtables and pitch opportunities.
To-date, GCFF has traced more than 21,000 tons of textile waste across its country initiatives and forged connections between over 100 factories and 20 brands. As the Türkiye initiative kicks off, the GFA is asking brands that produce in the country to participate to forge a more circular future.