Announced at Sustainability Talks Istanbul, GFA’s Circular Fashion Partnership: Türkiye will begin in early 2026 and aims to capture and recycle post-industrial textile waste by improving segregation in factories, strengthening traceability, and connecting manufacturers with domestic recyclers for higher-value material recovery.
The programme is led by GFA, with the national lead Rematters, and is supported by implementation partners Reverse Resources, Closed Loop Fashion, and the Circle Economy Foundation, with funding from the H&M Foundation.
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In Türkiye, the programme will run a series of activities throughout 2026, including waste-management assessments, capacity building through a Train-the-Trainer model, recycling matchmaking sessions, and roundtables with policymakers.
The aim is to support the country in future-proofing its textile sector, unlocking new economic value from waste and strengthening its competitiveness in an increasingly regulated global market.
The initiative will also help suppliers prepare for evolving regulatory requirements, including EU-driven circularity and waste-reduction obligations, while encouraging national-level collaboration to support long-term structural change. GFA is calling on brands sourcing from Türkiye to join the partnership.
Türkiye’s vertically integrated supply chain, proximity to the EU, and heightened regulatory scrutiny make it a strong candidate for scaling fibre-to-fibre recycling. The new programme will build on these advantages by developing models for improved waste handling, digital traceability, and domestic recovery routes that reduce reliance on virgin materials and landfill.
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By GlobalDataThe partnership forms part of GFA’s Global Circular Fashion Forum (GCFF), which has rolled out similar models in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Indonesia. Across those markets, GCFF initiatives have digitally traced more than 21,000 tonnes of textile waste and connected over 100 factories and 20 global brands with recycling partners.
Federica Marchionni, CEO of GFA, said: “Türkiye represents a critical opportunity to accelerate circularity at scale. Through the Circular Fashion Partnership: Türkiye, we aim to foster local collaboration and unlock innovation that can serve as a model for textile-to-textile recycling globally.
“Such partnerships can establish scalable systems that not only address textile waste, but also contribute to climate goals, regulatory alignment, and long-term competitiveness. This is a vital step in our mission to support a just and circular transition.”
