Mind the gap: skills needs for a circular fashion and textiles industry

The UK Fashion and Textiles (F&T) industry contributes to global carbon emissions, with consumption generating circa 300 000 tonnes of waste annually to landfill or incineration (WRAP, 2017). The circular economy proposes a more sustainable model with initiatives responding to legislation requiring F&T companies to meet environmental and carbon reduction targets (WRAP, 2021; BFC, 2022). Circular F&T design is more complex than traditional linear approaches, due to environmental impacts across the whole product lifecycle requiring consideration (Ellams and Goldsworthy, 2019). Circular supply chains are more extensive and require materials innovation, improved management of waste and emissions, reverse logistics and recycling infrastructure (Niinimäki, 2015). Inevitably, skills and knowledge gaps are emerging.The NERC funded project ‘Back to Baselines’ (B2B) aims to map the UK F&T industry to provide a baseline of current practice from which to transition to sustainability within a circular framework (University of Leeds, n.d.). An essential element is to define the skills gaps across the industry and consider its alignment with educational provision. This paper outlines the qualitative research as part of the B2B project, reflecting upon a series of focus groups comprising of F&T educators and industry specialists. The paper will discuss opinions and experiences of best practice for sustainable and circular (S&C) F&T and explore the perceived alignments, and misalignments, of skills to inform future approaches. The UK Fashion and Textiles (F&T) industry contributes to global carbon emissions, with consumption generating circa 300 000 tonnes of waste annually to landfill or incineration (WRAP, 2017). The circular economy proposes a more sustainable model with initiatives responding to legislation requiring F&T companies to meet environmental and carbon reduction targets (WRAP, 2021; BFC, 2022). Circular F&T design is more complex than traditional linear approaches, due to environmental impacts across the whole product lifecycle requiring consideration (Ellams and Goldsworthy, 2019). Circular supply chains are more extensive and require materials innovation, improved management of waste and emissions, reverse logistics and recycling infrastructure (Niinimäki, 2015). Inevitably, skills and knowledge gaps are emerging. The National Environmental Research Council (NERC) funded project ‘Back to Baselines’ (B2B) aims to map the UK F&T industry to provide a baseline of current practice from which to transition to sustainability within a circular framework. An essential element is to define the skills gaps across the industry and consider its alignment with educational provision. This paper outlines the qualitative research as part of the B2B project, reflecting upon a series of focus groups comprising of F&T industry specialists. The paper will discuss opinions and experiences of best practice for S&C F&T and explore the perceived alignments, and misalignments, of skills to inform future approaches. The global fashion and textile industry is complex, vast, and of significant economic value. This is evident when considering the transformation of raw materials into consumer products, the technologies and skillsets required throughout this journey, the logistics supporting the supply chain, the retail environments, and the consumer primed to respond to trends.