EDUCATION FEATURE

INSET: Teemill shows off its circular credentials through the Remill take back and repurpose scheme.

DEALS WITHIN WHEELS

From Mattel and The LEGO Group’s individual toy take-back schemes to eBay’s tie-up with ITV’s Love Island to push pre-loved fashion, the circular economy has never been more in vogue. Products of Change explores its place in licensing.

ABOVE RIGHT: Products of Change’s advisor and circular expert, Arthur Parry.

RIGHT: The Little Loop’s founder Charlotte Morley with Dragon’s Den investor Deborah Meaden.

FAR RIGHT: Teemill proudly shares its latest ocean plastic stat. T he Natural History Museum decided to mark Dinosaur Day – the day on which the UK gathers each year to celebrate the Mesozoic era (it’s on 1 June, stick it in the diary) - in a typically charming and planet-conscious fashion.

Or should that read in not-sotypical fashion? Because it did so through a new partnership with the sustainable print-on-demand clothing specialist, Teemill. And in doing that, it brought licensing one step closer to the circular economy.

Slightly easier to frame than Dinosaur Day, the circular economy is, as explained by Arthur Parry, Products of Change’s advisor and expert on circularity, “a model that takes inspiration from natural systems that don’t create any waste.” Or, in other words: “the output from one part of the system becomes the food for another.”

Teemill is an expert in material circularity. Housed on The Isle of Wight, it’s a clothing manufacturer that works on a carbon neutral level and is recognised by the World Economic Forum, the United Nations Environment Programme, and The Queen’s Award for Innovation for its pioneering approach to fashion industry circularity.

This is because every item made by Teemill is designed – from the very start - to be sent back to Teemill once it has reached the end of its useful life, where it is broken down and repurposed into the next garment.

The company’s Remill programme acts to ensure that Teemill products never enter landfill. Its clothing is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, its factories are powered by renewable energy, and its print-to-order approach means waste is reduced to zero. “It’s a fine example of a business model,” says Arthur, “that is only making what they know is going to be sold. It’s an elimination of waste by design to begin with.”

But you’ve likely met with the circular economy before. Anyone with a library card… or a Milkman, come to that, has at one point been a part of a working circular economic model; collect, return, reuse.

It’s only in the face of today’s runaway – and throwaway - fast moving consumer goods sector (fast fashion being the leading example) that the circular economy seems a novel concept. But the truth is it’s not.

Described as a model of production and consumption which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible, the main goal of the circular economy is to avoid waste and pollution by design, keep materials in use at their highest value state to be productively used again to create further value, and to regenerate natural systems.

For anyone thinking it’ll never catch on, think again. Because the circular economy is already in our mainstream.

“Some of the leading examples of successful circularity includes IKEA’s recently adopted approach to resale,” explains Arthur. “Recognising the frequency with which their products are resold, they’ve taken ownership of that themselves to resell items in their stores. It means they can learn about their own business model and more importantly, keep those materials in use at their highest possible value.”

Closer to home for the licensing industry, the Mattel PlayBack programme is an excellent example of a working circular model. Through the platform, families can return their well-loved Barbie, MEGA, Matchbox, and FisherPrice toys to the manufacturer, which will then repurpose or recycle those materials to be used in new products or for energy.

The LEGO Group and Hasbro have, too, had similar models in play for a number of years.

It’s been only recently, however, that the circular economy has hit the big time. We’re talking Gen-Z appeal – the holy grail of appeal. And it comes down to Love Island.

The ITV reality TV series has this year, ditched its historical allegiance with the perpetrators of the fast fashion scene to promote possibly the world’s largest, best-known, and most successful circular model to date – eBay. That’s right, resale and recommerce have never been more in fashion than right now.

In its 2021 Recommerce Report, eBay has underlined ‘a surge in demand for second-hand from young consumers’, while a recent report from thredUP predicts the total second-hand apparel market to double within the next five years, reaching $77 billion.

Rather more importantly, both suggest that the resale fashion sector may surpass the fast fashion market within ten years. And when you consider that eBay UK has sold one pre-loved fashion item every second so far in 2022, that’s a future not too hard to imagine.

It’s now eBay UK’s aim, says Jemma Tadd, head of fashion at the recommerce giant’s local division, “to inspire the nation to choose pre-loved first when shopping.”

“Even if it’s only one or two preloved items to start with, it’s a step in the right direction,” she says.

The collaboration follows research and data from eBay revealing that one fifth of Brits now buy more second-hand fashion compared to two years ago, while 16% of their wardrobes are now made up of pre-loved clothes. There’s a burgeoning market for resale that can’t be denied.

“Another great example is Little Loop,” says Arthur. “They specialise in kids’ clothing and are a blended model of purchase, rental, and leasing. In all cases, they will take the product back, clean it and refurbish it and then give it another life. They can purpose five or six iterations out of each item… that’s five or six transactions; another five or six times the number of transactions you would normally get from one item.

“This is how you take advantage of the retained value in a product.”

But how do you transpose the circular model onto the licensing industry? Perhaps the most accessible and immediate means is in the resale sector itself? Consider a branded store housed on a platform excelling in resale - like eBay – that presents a shop front for branded excess or pre-loved product with a pricing structure that allows brand owner and seller to take advantage of the retained value of its products listed.

Products of Change is already having these conversations. There’s no better time for you to be a part of them. If you want to learn more about unlocking value in your business through the circular economy, come join Arthur at the Circular Economy Workshop on 13 July.

ABOVE: eBay takes sponsorship of ITV’s Love Island to push pre-loved fashion.

FAR LEFT: Mattel PlayBack means families can give their pre-loved toys a second life.

LEFT: Teemill showcases its supply chain heroes across its sustainable production methods.