In June 2023, some of Australia’s major fashion and clothing brands committed to be foundation members of Seamless, a national stewardship scheme that aims to make Australian fashion and clothing truly circular.
Launched by the Minister for Environment and Water, The Hon. Tanya Plibersek, the Seamless Scheme Design and the Roadmap to Clothing Circularity, will drive the industry towards clothing circularity by 2030 through:
- Incentivising clothing design that is more durable, repairable, sustainable and recyclable.
- Fostering new circular business models for Australian fashion based on reuse, repair, re-manufacturing and rental.
- Expanding clothing collection and sorting for effective re-use and to ensure
non-wearable clothes are recycled into new high value products and materials. - Encouraging citizen behaviour change for clothing acquisition, use, care and disposal.
A stewardship approach recognises that the fashion and clothing brands who place clothes on the market are responsible for the entire life of that garment, from design through to recycling or sustainable disposal.
The foundation members of the National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme, Seamless, are BIG W, David Jones, Lorna Jane, Rip Curl, R.M. Williams and THE ICONIC. Each organisation committed $100,000 to fund a 12-month transition phase while the Seamless scheme is established.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority also contributed $100,000 to the transition phase as a supporting partner.
The scheme design report recommends that Seamless is funded by a 4 cent per garment levy paid by clothing brands and retailers who become members of the scheme. If 60% of the market by volume sign up to the scheme, a funding pool of $36 million will be raised per year to transform the industry.
If industry signs up to the scheme, the activities driven by Seamless, stakeholders and citizens are projected to divert 60% of end-of-life clothing from landfill by 2027.
Seamless was created by a Consortium led by the Australian Fashion Council with Charitable Recycling Australia, Queensland University of Technology, Sustainable Resource Use and WRAP Asia Pacific.
The scheme design is the result of significant research and analysis, and extensive discussions with stakeholders across the value chain including clothing brands, retailers, charities, recyclers and government agencies.
The Australian Government provided funding for the scheme design.
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