🌱 Could $14B of incentives fix the rapid growth of textile waste?

We look at the 3 benefits of the bi-partisan Americas Act for businesses in the US

Happy Monday! Every Monday we suit up and get serious - digging into a climate topic, rounding up the past week’s Good(s) News and sharing updates from across FTF, so you’re never out of the loop.

*clutches cue cards*

Thanks for tuning into our 150th broadcast! On today’s programme:

1. Jenny, our New York correspondent, takes us through the bi-partisan Americas Act, and how it hopes to combat the 80% growth in textile waste the US has seen since 2000. She dives into 3 benefits we see for businesses, stay tuned.

2. Our Good(s) News co-anchors Katherine and Indira cover the largest 100% refrigerated electric last mile fleet in Europe, 100% plant-based ice cream and WRAP’s new report. It’s a packed week, we hope you’re sitting down.

3. I’ll catch you up to speed on what you might have missed across Following the Footprints in the past week.

Let’s dig in…

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> In Focus

Much Ado About No Waste: The Americas Act and U.S. Circularity Legislation

By Jenny Nova

Source: Fibersort Technology

It’s safe to say that few FTF readers are not already concerned about garment industry emissions; if you’re feeling peachy, I’ll point you towards my team mate Laura’s recent piece on the forthcoming EU legislation to take textile waste and resource use from quite bad to a bit less bad. In classic fashion (pun intended), the United States is following the European model and pushing to incentivize better business practices within the retail industry. This is a critical focus area for the U.S. because national “textile waste has grown 80% since 2000 and is [the] nation’s fastest growing waste stream” Annually, billions of U.S. taxpayers dollars are funneled into transporting and processing textile waste at landfills or incinerators. 

Taking a break from dooms-daying, let’s now explore the bi-partisan “Americas Act,” proposed in the United States Senate in March of 2024, to understand the benefits to the U.S. circularity landscape if passed.

We’ll Take the Bill

The biggest takeaway from the circularity-focused elements of the “Americas Act” is a potential infusion of cold, hard cash: it overall proposes $14B in federal incentives to support material re-use, domestically. 

Content: ACT, Graphic: Own (Jenny Nova)

But wait, there’s more! Here’s your top-line business benefit breakdown: 

• Closing the de minimis loophole, a current rule that exempts packages valued at $800 or less from tariffs when being shipped to the US. Per this U.S. Congress report “[mega fast-fashion retailers] Temu and Shein alone are likely responsible for more than 30% of all packages shipped to the U.S. daily under the de minimis provision, and likely nearly half of all de minimis shipments to the U.S. originate from China.” This de minimis rule has seemingly also allowed these retailers to skirt forced labor prohibitions and overall operate with less scrutiny. This directly reflects one of the bill’s goals: to create more on-shore (or near-shore) manufacturing incentives and strengthen the (more) dormant U.S. textile manufacturing arm. 

• $1B allocated towards textile-related innovation, which is again aimed at invigorating U.S. manufacturing, creating new jobs, and working to revolutionize the U.S. garment industry so it doesn’t lag quite as far behind China. These funds would specifically support textile use and recycling technology projects. 

• 15% net income exclusion for qualifying businesses, meaning that resale, garment upkeep, textile recycling, and other companies promoting garment re-use would receive an income tax break, hopefully giving them a higher likelihood of success. 

Signalling Support 

“Circularity is positioned within the Americas Act as a potential differentiator between U.S. and China manufacturing,” so it makes perfect sense that this bill was developed in partnership with the American Circular Textiles group (see their press release). ACT CEO Rachel Kibbe, ACT CEO has spoken with great enthusiasm about the potential of this act to positively impact the U.S. economy, stating that:

“Embracing circular policies like those in the Americas Act is a huge start. Circularity is not only a more sustainable way to think about manufacturing, it’s also an urgent opportunity to revive our U.S. textile industry in a manner geared towards the future.”

In the near term, we’re going to have to sit, wait, and cross our fingers that this bill eventually becomes law. If you’re representing a garment or textile-related brand, you can fill out this form from the ACT to signal your support. Public opinion, and clear excitement around, this bill also makes a big difference - so take to socials with the ACT’s toolkit and encourage your friends to do the same. If you’ve got a textile innovation idea? Our advice: watch this space!

Follow up with…

1. Report: U.S. Congress Report: Fast Fashion and the Uyghur Genocide

2. Paper: ACT Policy Paper [Download]: The United States’ Opportunity for Circular Fashion

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> Last week in consumer goods x climate…

The Good(s) News

Up and coming brands…

🎯 Nix & Kix announced that their new creative is live on Ocado Retail as part of their Makers Market initiative. This program is supporting small brands and bringing them to the forefront in big retailers.

🎯 Rescued Limited was featured in Ellen MacArthur Foundation as a Circular Example case study. They are part of the Big Food Redesign Challenge, where they take unsold fruit, vegetables and bread from retailers, manufacturers and growers and turns them into new products for its retail and wholesale customers.

Bigger organisations…

⭐ Upfield announced their new 100% plant-based ice-cream mix, Flora Professional. It’s dairy, gluten free and vegan that has lower CO2 emissions than dairy. The recipe works seamlessly with all conventional ice cream machines.

⭐ HelloFresh announced that they now operates the largest 100% refrigerated electric last mile fleet in Europe, that helps deliver over 90% of HelloFresh orders in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. This is a huge jump from only 10% in 2021.

⭐ John Lewis & Partners announced that they have been awarded the 2024 Top Contributor Member Award by Better Cotton. The award celebrates brands who have sourced significant volumes of Better Cotton, and who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to its mission and community.

Industry news…

⚡️The EU Right-to-Repair Directive enters force this week. It obliges manufacturers—both inside and outside of the EU—to provide repair services for goods sold on the European market, even after the legal guarantee period. Manufacturers will be required to provide clear and accessible information on the repairability and durability of their products, enabling consumers to make informed purchasing decisions.

⚡️ WRAP just launched their new report. This guide is relevant for businesses in the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) market, hospitality sectors, public institutions, and more. It helps businesses to identify opportunities for transitioning to reusable and refillable packaging, reducing environmental impact by moving away from single-use plastics.

Want good news sooner? We post our top 5 stories every Friday on LinkedIn! If your consumer goods brand has good news to share - email us!

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> In case you missed it

Want more? Here’s what’s happening across FTF at the moment…

• We welcomed a new team member - Henry! More about him in the coming weeks…. but we’re pretty excited to have him onboard.

• It was Earth Overshoot Day last Thursday! We took a trip down memory lane, and revisited some of our past newsletters focused on responsible consumption:

  • July 2023 - #110: 🌱 Plastic Overshoot Day, and how BottleUp have swapped single use for sugarcane.

  • July 2023 - #111: 🌱 Why Asket paused the release of new products, and we dig into degrowth ahead of Earth Overshoot Day.

  • December 2023 - #119: 🌱 How Flawsome! are turning 42 million pieces of fruit from wonky to wonderful, and 6 ways to help your customers reduce their household food waste.

  • March 2024 - #130: 🌱 “We don’t consume materials. We simply borrow them.” Looking Beyond on Global Recycling Day.

• We hit 4161 followers on LinkedIn! Hey, who said milestones had to be conventional?

• Last Thursday in The Check-Out we featured Isle of Mull Cheese and their onsite distillery - Indira even went to tour it! A 180kW hydro electric system, a 65kW wind turbine and some clever engineering = 100% renewable energy.

We got some film back! A sneak peak inside our Nudie Jeans collaboration on the 24th July. FTF team from L>R - Henry, Katherine, Ruby and Emma.

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That’s it for today!

Want more? Hang tight for ‘The Check-Out’ this Thursday for the latest brands in our basket. In the meantime, if you have any topics that you would like us to dig into, ping us an email on info@followingthefootprints.com to say hi!

Much love, 

Team FTF