From 16-19 December, ITC’s GTEX Project in Sri Lanka, funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), held a training-of-trainers session followed by a training workshop on Circular Economy Business Models for the Textile and Clothing Industry.

This workshop, attended by more than 60 participants, was designed to provide an in-depth introduction to textile circularity across two days.

It began by explaining the core concepts, principles and components essential for designing for circularity in the textile and clothing industry.

Next, it explored how to maximise the efficiency of reverse logistics in the fields of textile reuse and recycling, with a particular focus on textile value chains.

On the second day, the workshop took a “deep dive” into the textile recycling value chain, examining the various technologies, procedures, and quality requirements to make textile recycling a valuable business prospect.

Eventually, the workshop concluded with a look at textile recycling business models, discussing the main challenges to value creation for industry stakeholders.

Together, these insights equipped companies as well as the textile and clothing support ecosystem in Sri Lanka with a comprehensive understanding to implement circular business models, enabling them to navigate the textile industry’s shift toward sustainability and gaining a competitive edge on international markets.

The workshop was preceded by an intensive two-day training-of-trainers, attended by 19 Sri Lankan academics, textile industry professionals and government officials to scale knowledge and circular practices.

As a result, the skills required to teach the training workshop on Circular Economy Business Models for the Textile and Clothing Industry have been embedded within Sri Lanka, setting the stage for several future sessions to be planned and implemented locally, throughout 2025 and beyond.

GTEX Sri Lanka expects to train about 500 industry professionals and textile and clothing students in 2025 on this new key aspect of the textile and clothing value chain.