Lisa Piller talks textile circularity and sustainable practices for the Australian clothing industry

We spoke to Lisa Piller, the recipient of our 2024 Australian VET Sustainability Fellowship, sponsored by the VET Development Centre (VDC), about her work, upcoming Fellowship and the current state of textile waste in Australia.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am a researcher, academic and advocate for systemic change to the fashion supply chain.  I lecture in sustainability, design and fashion business at South Metropolitan TAFE (SM TAFE), following a 16-year career working in fashion product design, development and sustainable supply chain management. I am a founding member of the WA Circular Fashion Consortium and Circular Textile Working Group WA, and am devoted to supporting students and industry in lasting careers as ethical, sustainable and innovative designers. I am committed to business and design models grounded in product stewardship and recognise the critical need for collaborative partnerships to design out waste in the clothing supply chain.

Lisa’s 2022 Masters Project ‘Designing for Circularity: sustainable pathways for Australian fashion small medium enterprise’ is published in the International Journal of Fashion Marketing.

Lisa (far left) speaking at the 2022 Fremantle Design Week.

How did you feel when you discovered you were successful in receiving the Australian VET Sustainability Fellowship?

Unbelievably excited. Over the last several years of research and engagement in circular economy principles in the clothing industry, I have read much about the innovations, best practices and strategies in this space taking place across the EU. I am so excited for the opportunity to visit these operations and meet the stakeholders behind them to speak to them first hand.  I am so thankful to VDC and ISS Institute for this extraordinary opportunity.

What is the premise of your Fellowship?

I am building on research that examines circular economy and product stewardship in the clothing and textile supply chain. I will be investigating successful international initiatives and collaborations across stakeholder networks, predominantly from the European Union, that tackle textile waste. In gaining a broader understanding of these sustainable solutions on a global level, I hope to support and promote sustainable pathways for the reshoring of clothing manufacture adaptable to the unique geographical and industrial Australian landscape. In turn I hope to address how the VET sector may support and drive sustainable transformation in the Australian clothing and textiles industry.

While Lisa is still building her Fellowship itinerary, she plans to visit:

• Hong Kong: Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) & HK Polytechnic

• The Netherlands: United Repair Centre, Circular Innovation Collective, Waag TextileLab

• United Kingdom: Project Re:Claim, Fashion Enter and The Factory, 27th Annual Conference of International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes FORMING FUTURES Hosted by London College of Fashion, UAL

• Switzerland: Onl’fait FabLab

• Finland: Aalto University, Finnish ReHub development

• Norway: MET University

• Italy: PI Apparel 2025 Fashion Tech Show Europe

Lisa is seeking to address textile waste by examining circular economy.

Credit: Jackson Findell / The West Australian

What are your thoughts on the current state of textile sustainability in Australia?

Australians are now the highest consumer of textiles in the world* and double the global average. Each year, 8 million units of unwanted clothing go to Australian charities, and used apparel is exported abroad at scale. Only 1% of textiles are recycled in Australia. 

A critical issue is the speed and scale at which this consumption is happening. Ultra-fast fashion label SHEIN drops 2,000 new styles a day, and can “design,” produce, package, and distribute products in under 6 days. The speed, low prices and poor quality of fast fashion brands encourages disposable consumer behaviours, but the environmental impacts of these items continues long after its production and disposal.

A simple T-shirt requires 3 years’ worth of drinking water to produce, travelling twice around the world before arriving at your local store. Textile treatment and dyeing of apparel contribute to 20% of global freshwater pollution, while textile laundering and disposal account for 35% of ocean microplastics. And while a t-shirt appears a simple product, particularly in comparison to something such as a smartphone – its supply chain is one of the most convoluted, globalised, fragmented, opaque and lengthy of any manufactured product. Moreover, it will only be worn an average of 3-5 times before in most cases being sent to landfill, leaching microplastics and toxic dyes, bleaches and chemicals into the soil. This is a system in crisis.

These issues are driving government policies and sentiment amongst Australian stakeholders for systemic change towards applying circular economy principles to the sector. Tinkering at the edges of the existing model, or swapping components of the apparel supply chain without addressing over-consumption, overproduction, and disposable behaviours is simply ‘greenwashing.’ In a restorative and regenerative circular economy, the value of clothing, textiles and fibres are maintained in a continuous cycle of use and regeneration, providing benefits for business, society and the environment.

Photo credit: Jackson Findell / The West Australian

What can producers do to be more sustainable?

• Sign up for Seamless, the Australian National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme, which aims to divert 60% of end-of-life clothing from landfill by 2027.

• Design for circularity - 80% of the environmental impact of a product is determined at the design phase.

• Adopt circular economy principles to keep textiles in use.

• Use sustainable materials and reduce water and chemical use.

• Provide transparent information on the supply chain.

  
  

How can consumers reduce textile waste?

• Reduce consumption and prioritise quality.

• Know your brand and keep an eye out for Greenwashing.

• Choose natural fibres, avoid synthetics.

• Extend the life of clothing through repair and mindful care.

• Keep clothes in circulation through donation, swaps and recycling.

 

In what ways do you hope your research findings will impact the sustainability sector?

Leading innovation and research in circular economy within the clothing and textile industry is predominantly focused in Europe. This Fellowship enables me to explore international best practices to inform local action. I intend to investigate collaborative approaches such as micro-factory models, hybrid supply chains integrating local and regional resources, specialised processing and supply, and end-of-life product stewardship. I will explore strategies that address barriers to circularity for Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) including costs, minimum order quantities, and fragmented supply chains.  My research centres on designing clothing for circularity within Australia's challenging and unique environment, with a particular emphasis on supporting SMEs, our primary sector in this domain. I seek to envision a Future Made in Australia in the clothing and textile sector by identifying international models best suited to Australia and the necessary skill capabilities and training required to realise them.

Australia is the highest consumer of textiles in the world per capita. Credit: Jackson Findell / The West Australian

Australia's distinctive geographical and industrial landscape, including its expansive geography, fragmented manufacturing sector, high number of SMEs, a thriving merino wool industry, significant engagement in offshore processing, and highly consumptive buyer behaviours, presents both challenges and opportunities for implementing circular economy principles. Transitioning to waste-free textile systems requires research, collaboration and investment in innovative materials, technologies, manufacturing processes and business models suited to Australia's unique environment. Training in future skills is essential.

Skills Insight, one of Australia’s 10 government-funded Jobs and Skills Councils (JDCs) supporting skills and training in the VET sector, serves as the leading body for the Textile, Clothing and Footwear industry. They recognise the implications of a rapid increase in textile repair, reuse, and recycling, as well as the growing demand for skills in eco-friendly production and design. This Fellowship would facilitate the examination of necessary infrastructure and skills training for implementing best practices in circular economy product design, textile repair, reuse, and recycling.

Furthermore, national policies and initiatives are driving the need for investigation into solutions, including: 

• The Environmentally sustainable procurement policy for government uniforms and textiles

• A position that sustainable manufacturing must look at new business models and closed-loop processes founded on product stewardship, and

• The emerging role of advanced manufacturing using technologies such as virtual prototyping and rapid customisation

I am eager to bring back practical innovations, strategies, and approaches from abroad for implementation within Australia and the VET community, enhancing sustainability in the clothing and textile sector while addressing textile waste challenges.

*per capita

---

Piller, Lisa Westover. 2022. "Designing for circularity: sustainable pathways for Australian fashion small to medium enterprises." Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management 27 (2): 287-310. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-09-2021-0220.

Gbor, N. & Hollet, O. 2024. “Textiles waste in Australia: Reducing consumption and investing in circularity”.    https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-Australia-Institute-Textiles-Waste-In-Australia-Web.pdf

Carmichael, A. 2015. “Man-made fibers continue to grow.” https://www.textileworld.com/textile-world/fiber-world/2015/02/man-made-fibers-continue-to-grow/.

Australian Fashion Council. 2022. “National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme: Clothing Data Report”. https://ausfashioncouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/AFC-NCPSS-Data-Report.pdf.

Payne, A., and Binotto, C. 2017. “Towards a typology of waste in fashion practice: An Australian perspective”. PLATE: Product Lifetimes and the Environment 2017—Conference Proceedings Research in Design Series, Delft, Netherlands (IOS Press). 10.3233/978-1-61499-820-4-340

Time Magazine. 2023. “Shein Is the World’s Most Popular Fashion Brand—at a Huge Cost to Us All”.  https://time.com/6247732/shein-climate-change-labor-fashion/

Liu, J. 2022. “Research on the Business Strategy and Deficiency of the Fast Fashion Industry to Enhance Development - a Case Study of Shein”. DOI:10.2991/978-94-6463-036-7_268

Chapagain, A.K., Hoekstra, A.Y.,  Savenije, H.H.G. & Gautam, R. 2005. “The water footprint of cotton consumption”. https://waterfootprint.org/resources/Report18.pdf .

The Conversation. 2022. “What your T-shirt reveals about ‘carbon colonialism’ and the global economy’s vast hidden emissions”. https://theconversation.com/what-your-t-shirt-reveals-about-carbon-colonialism-and-the-global-economys-vast-hidden-emissions-177956

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). (2022b). National Waste Report 2022. E. Department of Climate Change, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) Docklands: Blue Environment. https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/national-waste-report-2022.pdf

Sirilertsuwan, P., Hjelmgren, D and Ekwall, D. (2019), “Exploring current enablers and barriers for sustainable proximity manufacturing”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp.551-571. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-09-2018-0114

Ellen MacArthur Foundation.  “What is a Circular Economy?”  https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/

Farren, A., Itzstein, S., Piller, L., and Ryan, M. 2023. “The State of Fashion & Textile Circularity in WA”. Bentley, Australia, Curtin University. https://research.curtin.edu.au/research-areas/sustainable-development/the-circular-economy/

Australian Fashion Council. 2022. “National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme Design: Global Scan Report”. https://ausfashioncouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/AFC-NCPSS-Global-Scan-Report.pdf.

Skills Insight. 2024. Workforce Plan: Textiles, Clothing and Footwear. https://skillsinsight.com.au/workforce-plan/textile-clothing-and-footwear/