London Textile Action Plan sets nine-point strategy for sustainable fashion

The Greater London Authority, London Councils, ReLondon and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation have collaborated to publish a comprehensive action plan to transition London’s fashion and textile industry into a zero-waste, low carbon circular economy.

The London Textiles Action Plan sets out a programme of activities to address the environmental impact of clothing consumption while supporting the city's fashion industry, which contributes £11 billion to London’s GVA.

The plan is structured around three interconnected outcome pillars to accelerate the transition to circularity:

• The first pillar, ‘Make things well’, aims to reduce waste through design and manufacturing processes while improving durability, repairability and recyclability. This includes increasing uptake of sustainable materials by fashion brands and designers.
• The second pillar, ‘Use textiles for as long as possible’, focuses on extending product lifetimes through care, maintenance, repair, reuse, rental, and sharing models.
• The third pillar, ‘Reuse and recycle non-rewearable textiles locally’, focuses on improving practices and driving investment into collection, sorting, recycling and reuse infrastructure to keep materials circulating within London.

Make things well

Based on extensive consultation with 30 London boroughs and over 70 stakeholders from across the fashion value chain, the Action Plan identifies nine priorities for implementation.

One of the key initiatives highlighted by the Plan is greater support for small businesses and engagement with local authorities to continue embedding circular practices into the industry.

ReLondon's Business Transformation programme provides support to London-based circular fashion businesses that are innovating in textile design and production. Through the ReWear grant programme, funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, small businesses receive advice, connections, and financial support to develop circular business models. The plan suggests that additional funding could expand these programmes to more small businesses.

The Plan also suggests that public sector organisations such as councils could rethink how they are procuring textiles. It outlines potential guidelines these organisations could follow, such as using recycled materials for company uniforms, and promoting reuse and repair practices.

Use textiles for as long as possible

A repair voucher scheme, partly funded through the London Councils' One World Living programme, will explore subsidising professional repair services to support local businesses and change citizen behaviour. This could provide co-benefits including poverty alleviation, job safeguarding, high street revitalisation and community building.

Education also plays a crucial role in the plan. A schools engagement strategy will introduce educational resources, establish textile reuse mechanisms, and facilitate clothing distribution to families in need. Initial funding has been secured through the London Councils’ One World Living programme.

The development of an online map identifying local assets such as textile banks, repairers, scrap shops, hubs, and circular businesses also aims to increase awareness and change behaviour patterns.

Research for the Action Plan revealed that London consumed 154,600 tonnes of new clothing in 2019 – around 48 items per person annually. This consumption generated over 2 million tonnes of carbon emissions, equivalent to all the home energy usage within three inner London boroughs.

Building on ReLondon’s Love Not Landfill and Repair Week campaigns, the Plan develops a Pan-London campaign to amplify circular alternatives like second-hand purchasing, rental, swapping and sharing across London. Working with boroughs, charities, businesses, and educational institutions, the campaign will promote existing infrastructure and initiatives while developing new tools to reach wider audiences.

"By promoting business models like rental, resale, repair and remaking, and making the case for more ambitious policy and investment – London and Londoners can indeed set the trend," said Chloe Holland, Fashion Initiative Programme Manager at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Reuse and recycle non-wearable textiles locally

Another central feature of the plan is the development of circular economy hubs for textiles, which aim to establish local spaces enabling recovery, remanufacture or reuse of textiles. Initial funding has been secured through the UKRI's Future Fibres Network+ to conduct supporting research.

According to the Plan, Londoners discard approximately 142,700 tonnes of clothing each year (around 44 items per person), with over 40 per cent ending up in waste bins. As of 2024, only five boroughs offer weekly kerbside textile collections.

Aligning with industry efforts like the ACT UK project, the Plan advocates for developing the infrastructure needed to sort and process post-consumer textiles effectively. By assessing borough needs and supporting skill development related to sorting, collection, and redistribution, this action aims to improve London's capacity to handle non-rewearable textiles appropriately.

This goes hand in hand with the Plan’s aim to increase capture rates for discarded textiles by enabling segregated clothing collections services across all London boroughs. The initiative would establish measurable targets and develop communication assets to help citizens properly dispose of unwanted textiles and reduce contamination in waste streams.

"This plan is both timely and critical to support the move to a circular economy. Its multi-stakeholder approach will not only drive significant positive change within the local fashion industry, but it will also set a precedent for other areas in the UK and overseas to follow. It will foster innovation, create green jobs and promote a sustainable economic model that benefits society as a whole," said Adam Mansell, CEO of the UK Fashion and Textiles Association (UKFT).