The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a charity that promotes the circular economy. It is probably the world's most influential circularity initiative and has the largest network of circularity partners in the world.
Its aim is to accelerate the transition from the linear economy, where products are made, used, and thrown away, to a circular economy in which products are reintegrated into the value chain. To achieve this, the foundation works with all actors capable of influencing the creation of global solutions.
Just this week, a member of the foundation Zara highlighted its commitment to circular fashion by teaming up with textile innovation firm Evrnu to launch a circular capsule collection, made with 100-percent cotton waste.
Other strategic partners of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation include Gucci, H&M, Lacoste, Primark and Ralph Lauren, and members including C&A, Chloé, and Mango.
Redesigning Circularity
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, responsible for inspiring a new way of thinking, redesigning, and generating a circular economy, has presented the report “A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion's Future” together with the designer Stella McCartney. A report that aims to demonstrate with different data what the reality of the circular economy is in the fashion sector today.
The study specifies key data such as the fact that approximately 500 billion dollars a year are lost due to under-use and non-recycling of garments. In addition, the report specifies that 87 percent of textile fiber ends up being incinerated or in landfills, 73 percent of clothing intended for reuse is lost before being handled, ten percent is lost in the manufacturing process, two percent is incinerated or discarded and another two percent is lost at the time of sorting.
In this sense, one of the most striking conclusions of the study is that at the moment only one percent of the materials are actually used to make new clothes, with the vast majority of textile products being converted into items of lesser value such as rags, cloths or mattress stuffing.
As a charity, the organization is working continuously to eliminate waste and pollution, create circular products and materials, and regenerate nature. The foundation promotes the circular economy through research that demonstrates its benefits, curbing problems such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation seeks to make changes in the way we produce and use both products and food, involving the different actors in the industry. They are currently working in five areas where the circular economy can have the greatest impact: plastics, food, fashion, finance, and cities.