Circular Textile and Fashion Show Event 13 September Queensland Gold Coast

A Business Networking Forum on Circular Textiles and a Fashion Show and Tell

Last Friday 13^th of September, SACC Brisbane together with Circular Economy Club Gold Coast and Swedish school Gold Coast co-hosted a well-attended and inspiring event discussing the Circular Economy for Textile and Fashion and how it applies to both Businesses and the Community.

It was inspiring to see such a diverse group of community members, innovators, industry leaders, and government officials come together. The evening was dedicated to addressing the sustainability of the textile value chain around the Gold Coast, a pressing issue as Australia ranks as the second-highest consumer of textiles, just behind the United States. As such, it is clear that we must urgently change our approach to textiles and embrace more circular, sustainable practices. Both local and state governments are committed to supporting this growing movement.

Key Takeaways:

• Textiles as a Priority: The Department of Environment, Science, and Innovation, along with Seamless, discussed upcoming state and national policies to help divert textiles from landfills. These policies aim to manage this challenging and versatile waste stream more effectively.
• Sustainable Fashion is Viable: Successful examples of financially sustainable businesses in the reusable fashion space, like VENLA and local artists from Upcycle4Better and Salvos Stores, highlighted the potential for profitability while supporting a circular economy.
• Leading Innovation in Recycling: BlockTexx, a pioneering textile recycling facility nearby, is scaling up operations to process 10,000 tons of textiles per year. Their recycled products range from new materials to natural soil additives. It’s crucial to support these efforts by purchasing products containing recycled materials.
• Shifting from Fast Fashion: The panel emphasized the importance of rejecting fast fashion by expanding the network of collection points and educating people on sustainable textile use. Simple, recyclable designs for clothing, workwear, and PPE are key to ensuring that textiles can be reused and recycled more easily.
• Circular Fashion is Cool: Povel Torudd, from Berley Communication (Board member SACC’s Brisbane), gave a presentation on how branding yourself as a sustainable and circular business can increase your competitive edge, and our Fashion Show and Tell proved that circular fashion can be both stylish and affordable, showing that sustainability doesn’t mean sacrificing personal style.
• Smart Shopping Advice: Think carefully about what you purchase—do you really need it? Consider renting clothes and always donate instead of discarding them.

A special thanks to our SACC event sponsor IKEA who provided us with Swedish cider during the night. We’re proud of our vibrant Gold Coast and Brisbane community, which continues to support sustainable and circular activities and events such as this.

SACC Brisbane (Marie, Carin, Linda and Povel)

This event is organised by the Gold Coast Circular Economy Club in collaboration with the SACC Queensland Chapter.

Find out more about the Gold Coast Circular Economy Club here:

https://www.circulareconomyclub.com/club/circular-economy-club-gold-coast/

CircularEconomyClubGC@gmail.com