Measuring impact, digitising supply chains: A Material Impact Tool for the circular textiles economy by RoundRack and The Royal College of Art

到2030年，全球时尚业的温室气体排放量将几乎是将全球变暖控制在1.5摄氏度以内所需水平的两倍(麦肯锡，2020)。由于70%来自上游活动，特别是能源密集型原材料生产(麦肯锡，2020)，需要从根本上改变纺织品的生产方式。利用废物和生物工程设计的可替代的“下一代”材料市场正在萌芽，但增长迅速。这些材料减少了对能源密集型农业的依赖，专门为建立和支持循环纺织经济而设计。然而，这类材料在行业中的使用率仍然很低(麦肯锡，2019)，障碍包括成本、缺乏材料信息以及整合新供应商的运营挑战。作为回应，Roundrack开发了一个创新的协作平台，以解决这些障碍，并为供应链上的所有利益相关者创建一个从采购到制造、简化和激励下一代材料集成的“真理来源”。该项目是Roundrack和皇家艺术学院与选定的试点试验合作伙伴和潜在未来客户合作的项目，旨在加深对采用循环下一代材料的商业案例的理解。并验证其他平台功能，为进入市场做准备。

GHGs from the global fashion industry will be nearly double the level required to stay within 1.5 degrees of warming by 2030 (McKinsey,2020). With 70% coming from upstream activities, particularly energy-intensive raw material production (McKinsey, 2020), a fundamental shift is required in how textiles are produced.The market of alternative, 'next-generation' materials designed from waste and bio-engineering is nascent but growing rapidly. These materials reduce reliance on energy-intensive agriculture and are designed specifically to build and support a circular textiles economy. However, the adoption of such materials in the industry remains low (McKinsey,2019) with barriers including cost, lack of material information and operational challenges of integrating new suppliers.In response, Roundrack has developed an innovative, collaborative platform that addresses these barriers and creates one 'source of truth' for all stakeholders across the supply chain, from sourcing through to manufacture, streamlining and incentivising the integration of next-generation materials.This project is a collaboration between Roundrack and The Royal College of Art, alongside selected pilot trial partners and potential future customers, to develop understanding of the commercial case for adoption of circular, next-generation materials, and validate additional platform capabilities in preparation for market-entry.