Tailor Bakri Zaitoun repairs clothes at the United Repair Center
At the United Repair Center (URC), located next to Amsterdam’s popular Foodhallen indoor food market, Bakri Zaitoun is busy repairing the sleeve of a navy blue Patagonia down jacket.
Mr Zaitoun, a tailor from Syria who arrived in the Netherlands in 2018, is among eight refugees working as tailors at the URC, which was founded last year to help extend the life of clothes by repairing clothes for brands and their customers.
Through a translator, Mr Zaitoun explains that he has been a tailor for 25 years, but when he first arrived in the Netherlands he had to do all kinds of work. I asked him if it was okay to sew again and he gave me a big smile.
Mr. Zaitoun’s work is a small part of Amsterdam’s efforts to become a circular economy.
The traditional industrial economy uses raw materials to produce products that are discarded when they are no longer wanted, sometimes before the end of their useful life.
The circular economy aims to break the link between economic activity and the use of earth’s resources. This may include reusing, repairing and sharing materials and products.
“Circularity is the hottest topic in the fashion industry right now,” says Tammy Schweichler, CEO of URC, an organization he created through his social enterprise Makers Unite, a creative textile platform.
“Every brand is looking for ways to be sustainable. Renovations will be part of the future of circularity for brands.”
There has to be a systematic solution if change is to happen, he says. “It won’t happen through the user.”
Currently working with five brands, including Patagonia, Scotch & Soda and Decathlon, the companies send garments that need to be repaired to URC, which aims to repair the goods within a week.
Carrying out more than 400 repairs a week, or roughly 20,000 a year, Mr Schweichler says the aim is to reach 200,000 repairs a year by 2026.
Swollen by the rise of fast fashion, the clothing industry is known as one of the most wasteful sectors, with three quarters of our clothes ending up incinerated or buried in landfill, according to World Economic Forum.
While sustainability is on the agenda in many countries, in the Netherlands the government has set out bold plans to make the economy circular as quickly as possible.
In 2020, Amsterdam declared itself the first city in the world to commit to building a circular economy, focusing on food and organic waste streams, consumer goods and the built environment.
In seven years, Amsterdam plans to halve its use of new raw materials. By 2050, the ambition is to be fully circular – relying only on used and recycled materials.
This will be a big challenge for the construction industry, which is responsible for more than 30% of natural resource extraction and 25% of solid waste generated in the world.
One Dutch startup, Madaster, is hoping to make a small dent in this statistic.
He has created an online register that records the materials used in Amsterdam’s buildings, as well as information on how they can be reused at the end of their life.
“The built environment uses a lot of materials and energy to create products,” says director Pablo van den Bosch. “Instead of wasting and producing, if we can reuse instead, that’s good for carbon emissions and for reducing waste.”
He says Madaster worked together with Amsterdam authorities to create a digital overview of the city’s buildings. “If the city wants to redevelop an area, they have an idea of what materials they can save and maybe use the materials that are already there instead of tearing it down.”
He points to Olympique’s office in Amsterdam Zuid, which has been completely renovated, not demolished. “The natural stone was removed from the facade and used for flooring in the same building.”
Despite innovations like this, there is a long way to go.
The Circular Economy Progress Report 2022 by the Dutch Environmental Assessment Agency PBL found that while “policy efforts have so far laid the groundwork and developed a framework for a circular economy in the Netherlands… the Dutch economy still functions mainly in a linear way “.
“I’m afraid that the country and the city are not meeting the targets,” says Willem van Winden, professor of urban economic innovation at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
“The problem is that the circular model and practices are currently more expensive than the linear ones. I’m afraid it won’t happen unless the government implements more stringent measures. You need massive investment to make the circular economy happen. Many businesses will not make the transition unless legislation forces them to.”
However, Amsterdam is creating initiatives to encourage start-ups to make a bigger splash in the circular economy sector.
One initiative launched in conjunction with the AMS Institute and venture capital accelerator Rockstart is the Amsterdam Circular, a two-month program designed to help 20 early-stage companies find funding.
“There was a clear need for the city to support early-stage startups and increase funding,” says Guy Vincent, program manager at Amsterdam Circular. “The program is designed to support start-ups developing circular solutions in areas such as food, energy, mobility, construction and climate resilience.”
He says startups in the circular economy space face more challenges than other new businesses.
“They tend to be higher risk with lower returns because they can test new business models that are more complex and often unproven. Traditional venture capital firms may be hesitant to invest in them. We want to try to find ideal financing models for circular companies. -funding is required, i.e. private sector and a combination of public funds.”
Dutch electronics manufacturer Fairphone is one company that has managed to establish itself in the circular economy space.
It encourages its customers to keep their phones as long as possible and makes the phones relatively easy to repair.
Eva Guwens, CEO of Fairphone, wants people to keep their phones longer
“Longer use of the phone is the biggest impact you can make in this product category,” says Eva Guwens, CEO of Fairphone.
She points out that 75% of carbon emissions occur in production.
“The average life of a device is two to three years. If we can extend it to at least every five years, then you only need half the materials.”
Fairphone also offers a recycling program, encouraging customers to hand in their old phone in exchange for at least €50. “We can use modules or at least components to repair other devices. A lot of phones sit in drawers or go to landfill,” she says.
Professor van Winden is encouraged by companies developing circular models, but has this observation about the circular economy: “So far it’s mostly the luxury segments and they’re often expensive products for the wealthier people.”