Nordiska Textilakademin
From individual pilots to the public sector as a circular customer
The public sector buys large volumes of textiles, such as workwear, healthcare textiles and branded clothing. Yet reused and remanufactured textiles remain the exception, usually driven by individual pilots. On behalf of Nordiska Textilakademin (the Nordic Textile Academy), Xvii carried out a sub-study within the pre-study Slut cirkeln textil, which aims to accelerate circular textile flows in the Stockholm region. The question: how can public procurement become a driver for that market?
Solution
Xvii mapped the barriers, incentives and opportunities for circular textile procurement:
- Interviews with contracting authorities and suppliers
- Analysis of how procurement requirements and working methods can be developed to create demand for circular solutions
- A workshop and a webinar where the results were validated and developed together with market actors
Real benefits
Results
The study shows that the public sector does not primarily need to buy more reused garments. It needs to become a circular customer, with a way of working that covers the entire use cycle: acquisition, use, repair, internal reuse and what happens when the product is no longer needed. The result was five action areas that together take public organisations from pilot to full scale. They help them to:
Calculate
life-cycle cost and long-term value instead of lowest purchase price
Build
the market through supplier dialogue, development requirements, pilot volumes and longer contracts
Embed
circularity in organisation, functional requirements, standardisation and culture
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