MetaZirk:SQ

The clothing and textile industry is generating a wealth of innovative ideas that can enable and significantly drive forward a circular transformation. The DATIpilot Innovation Community Circular Textiles (CirTex), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (abbreviated BMFTR, per its German name) is making a targeted contribution to this. However, for the approaches developed within the Innovation Community and beyond to be effectively scaled up and rolled out beyond individual pilot projects, viable and transferable circular business models are required. This is precisely where a key challenge lies: the wide variety of approaches, together with their respective specific contextual conditions, make it difficult to systematically develop, compare and transfer knowledge on circular business models. Consequently, their structured documentation, categorisation and robust environmental and social assessment are also complex. To date, there is therefore no consolidated, overarching knowledge base for innovative practice within and outside the CirTex community that offers stakeholders concrete guidance and practical support on what is actually needed to successfully develop circular business models in the textile sector.

Against this background, the MetaZirk:SQ project aims to map and systematise the status quo regarding circular business models in the textile and clothing sector, and to analyse opportunities for knowledge transfer and development within the CirTex community.

In this context, the researchers at the Wuppertal Institute focus in particular on two key questions:

• Which typologies, patterns, challenges and potential of circular business models can be identified in the textile and clothing sector?
• Which types and patterns of business models, as well as specific examples, are particularly relevant to the CirTex community and ongoing CirTex projects?

Methodologically, the project is divided into two phases. The first phase focuses on the systematic identification and categorisation of existing business models through desktop research. This involves the project team classifying the models according to various criteria, such as target group, the specific circularity strategy or the degree of innovation, as well as a targeted in-depth analysis of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and its regulatory implications for existing and new business models. In the second phase, the researchers synthesise their findings and summarise the potential for transfer and development in a structured manner. This serves, on the one hand, to prioritise relevant circular business model approaches for the CirTex community and, on the other hand, to identify options for action regarding the integration of EPR into circular business models.

As a result, the researchers produce a consolidated, cross-cutting knowledge base that stakeholders within the CirTex community and beyond can draw upon. The knowledge provided enables stakeholders in the textile industry to systematically transition circular business models from the pilot phase to broad, market-ready scaling.