Circular Economy 2.0 in Practice #8

Case #8: Eileen Fisher's Tiny Factory - one-of-a-kind clothes

EILEEN FISHER (EF) is employing holistic approaches and experimenting innovative ways to reach its Vision 2020 and the goal of zero waste. 

Social Challenges:

Less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing is recycled and turned into new clothing. 87% of fibre used for clothing is incinerated or sent to landfills, representing a loss of more than $100 billion annually.

Business Model:

EF has started its take-back program since 2009, originally an initiative to open up its resale market of gently-worn pieces and support good causes. Over time, EF has a more comprehensive roadmap towards its circular mission. The Tiny Factory, opened in early 2017, is the workspace for sorting, storing, remaking, and reselling reused EF garments. 55-65% of collected EF garments are ready to be resold after cleaning at a reduced price. The remaining garments are mended or overdyed, using only natural dyes, according to their condition. Around 25 % of the clothes taken back are beyond repair and thus reused as raw materials to make the unique handmade RESEWN line, in which usable parts are cut into squares and sewn together. Also, EF is experimenting with felted decors, using unsalvageable garments and scraps to make pillows, rugs…etc.

Circular Economy 2.0 adds the social dimension, to the Circular Economy, by designing poverty out of our system on top of designing waste out:

• The root cause of our environmental challenges is Waste. Waste is designed out in Circular Economy;
• The root cause of our social challenges is Poverty. Poverty and Waste are both designed out in Circular Economy 2.0;

Both Poverty and Waste do not exist in Nature as it exists in our Human world. Both should be designed out.

To achieve this, the Circular Economy 2.0 proposes three additional Principles on top of the current three “Safe Circular Principles”(1), these are the “Just Circular Principles” (2), using The Doughnut Economy wording.

Circular Equity Principle 4

EF's general practices include auditing factories with strict compliances and working with human rights groups to ensure fair wages and safe workplaces for labours. Depending on the countries, EF has different human rights initiatives.

Circular Access Principle 5

EF empowers labours in rural communities to improve their livelihoods through training programs. 

Circular Ability Principle 6

EF values humans’ capability in making artisanal pieces as well as giving a new life to discarded garments.

The ultimate objective of the Circular Economy 2.0 is to Optimize Circular Value (#OCV) since we have now embedded Humans within the model (only Humans perceive Value).

For more information about Eileen Fisher: https://www.eileenfisher.com

(1) The current "Safe Circular Principles" suggested by The Ellen MacArthur Foundation are:

• Safe Principle #1 "Preserve and enhance Natural Capital by controlling finite stocks and balancing renewable resource flows";
• Safe Principle #2 "Optimize resource yields by circulating products, components and material at the highest utility at all times in both technical and biological cycles";
• Safe Principle #3 "Foster system effectiveness by revealing and designing out negative externalities";

(2) In Circular Economy 2.0, we add three socially inclusive principle as we recognize Humans as a valuable assets for our future. We embed them into the concept of Circular Economy thanks to a Humansphere. The additional "Just Circular Principles" are:

• Just Principle #4 "Equity makes business sense as services could be design to address the needs of all";
• Just Principle #5 "Developing people's ability promoting any means of exchange is a priority as one should be accessing more with less in a service-based economy";
• Just Principle #6 "Using labour is innovative as in a systemic regenerative model all abundantly available renewable energies should be considered".

This article is brought to you by Joanne (Hsin-Yuan) Lin. More information on our Linked In group: "Circular Economy 2.0 - Addressing Human Needs beyond Material Circularity".

If you have a socially-inclusive Circular Economy project, or you know one great case, please make contact with Joanne (Hsin-Yuan) Lin or Alexandre Lemille.