Can circularity succeed without addressing chemistry?
When discussing circularity, conversations often focus on materials, recycling technologies and business models. Yet chemistry also plays an important role in determining what can safely and effectively stay in circulation. What chemical considerations do you think are most critical for enabling a truly circular textile industry?
Circularity without chemistry management is wishful thinking. The biggest blocker I see is restricted substances accumulating through recycling loops, if you don't know what's in the input material, you can't guarantee what's in the output. Chemical inventories and MRSL conformance need to come before recyclability claims, not after.
Safe chemicals and chemical management are central to a scalable circular system, and they should be addressed much earlier in the supply chain, when materials are manufactured and processed. Safe recycled output needs safe feedstock. Recycling technologies can separate hazardous chemicals from recycled materials, but cannot eliminate them from the recycling waste stream. However, upstream chemical management through ZDHC MRSL coformant chemical use can prevent those chemicals from entering the circular system in the first place. Safe chemistry is therefore a prerequisite for safe circularity.