According to research, over 10 million kilograms of surplus textiles are produced, imported or accumulated from production leftovers in Australia every year, which is worth around 500 million dollars. Reason enough for Australian circular fashion brand A.Bch World to do something about it. Six weeks ago, for example, Circular Sourcing was launched, Australia’s first digital platform for reusing high-quality surplus and designer fabric leftovers.
According to the platform, more than 85 percent of all fashion and textile companies currently have surplus and leftover stocks. “The pilot phase was supported by Sustainability Victoria’s Circular Economy Business Innovation Fund (SVCEB) and we are already seeing a lot of interest from both buyers and sellers,” the initiative said in a press release.
A.Bch was launched in 2018 when founder Courtney Holm identified a major shortage of recyclable raw materials in the market. In 2022, the online shop was then converted into a marketplace where other companies can also sell their surplus material. In addition to the SVCEB, the platform is also supported by the project partners Full Circle Fibres, Melbourne Textile Knitting, The Social Studio and cooperation partners such as Harvey and The Good Egg Collective.
“Our aim is to bring about radical change and to support the Australian fashion and textile industry to work with more surplus or recycled materials and less virgin materials,” says the initiative’s website.
How does circular sourcing work?
Shoppers can search for fabrics on the platform by categories such as New Arrivals, Collections, Prints, MOQ 1 metre, Recycled, Organic and Made in Australia, or search by Filter further by material, fiber, color, quantity or price. The website also indicates how many meters of a particular fabric are in stock.
There is also a Learning Hub with more information on materials, related articles and local circular economy news. Here customers can also find more information about recyclable fabrics that are eligible for a take-back program: “Imagine product stewardship that goes so far that you can wrap up the leftover fabric and send it back to the manufacturer. Welcome to the true circular economy,” reads the website
Sellers of surplus fabrics can also use the platform to post their offers: all they have to do is create an account, list their products, send in fabric samples and then their offers can be activated.
Potential customers who would like to see and feel a fabric before purchasing can do so at Circular Sourcing’s showroom in West Melbourne, Victoria.