The right protective workwear can save lives, which is undoubtedly beneficial to society. But, in many ways, textiles is still a “dirty” industry. Taiga, a company based in Varberg manufacturing high quality workwear, wanted to reduce its climate footprint by participating Cirkulära Halland (Region Halland’s project on circular business models). Doing so revealed a new business opportunity for them as well.
People with jobs that involve saving lives simply can’t be wearing clothing that confines their movement or chafes. And, with a winter mountain rescue operation, for example, it is crucial that the clothing worn by the rescue team protects them and keeps them warm. With that in mind, the Varberg company, Taiga, has been manufacturing workwear and protective gear with high requirements on product safety since 1982. A large portion of their sales is to the public sector, such as clothing for ambulance and rescue workers. They also sell to the private sector. The common denominator, however, is always high functional requirements.
Developed in collaboration with customers
Taiga works closely with its customers to ensure that the clothing meets their demands and they have tight controls on manufacturing, right down to the smallest details.
– “Like other manufacturing companies, however, we’re a linear company, where the product flow is from manufacturing, to usage and ultimately, disposal,” says Maria Larsson, CSR & Sustainability Coordinator at Taiga.
She was the one contacted by RISE and asked whether the company might be interested in participating in Cirkulära Halland to see whether it might be possible to shift focus from linear to circularity.
– “For us, the primary objective was to start by really understanding what circularity and the circular economy is all about, both in theory and practice, by looking as some relevant examples,” she says.
Can a circular Taiga outcompete a linear?
The next step involved understanding how this might be applied at Taiga, which is a linear company.
– “We studied several circular business models and resource efficiency. Specifically, we looked at how we could use resources more efficiently than we do today, without sacrificing profitability. Our contact at RISE, Josefina, encouraged us to think about ways in which a circular Taiga could outcompete a linear Taiga,” she says.
Our guiding principle has always been for our clothes to have a long life
Because the textile industry consumes an enormous amount of energy, chemicals and water, its greatest environmental impact during the total life cycle of a garment is during the production phase.
– “So, in order to better conserve the earth’s resources, we must focus more on extending the life of a garment as long as possible, so that we don’t need to manufacture as many new ones. Our guiding principle has always been for our clothes to have a long life. Now though, we started thinking about how we could make it even longer,” she says.
Twofold results
The results were twofold. For one, Taiga started working more closely with its customers to increase its understanding of discarded garments.
– “We wanted to learn more about why our clothing didn’t hold up during use. We also wanted to spread knowledge to our customers about ways of caring for their garments better so that they would also perform better,” she says.
Launch of marketplace
Another outcome was, in conjunction with Green Week 2020, Taiga’s launch of a web-based marketplace where customers could resell their Taiga clothing. This was a nice option for customers who, for example, had changed their graphic profile or colour scheme, and no longer wanted to use the clothing even though it was still fully functional.
– “We also informed them of the option of sending damaged clothing to our workshop for repair, so that the garments could be resold and reused. It’s another way of being able to extend the product lifespan significantly,” she says.
"Pick the low-hanging fruit"
Although Maria Larsson has high hopes for this new marketplace, she says it only marks the beginning of Taiga’s work in finding the right circular business model.
– “One important lesson we’ve learned from all of this is that you need to take it one step at a time. Start where you are. Pick the low-hanging fruit and just keep learning, each step of the way. We’ve got a long way to go. But now, we have a better understanding of how to proceed and lots of ideas on how to do so, without sacrificing profitability,” she says.
Cirkulära Halland
We’re all familiar with the concept of a “wear-and-tear” or “throw away” society. Where we use a product until it breaks or it is time to replace it with a newer model. And then, you just throw the old one in the dumpster. Today, we think differently. We know that our world’s resources are finite and that we must take better care of our planet. With that in mind, the Paris Agreement on Climate Action and Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development have set high demands on countries, regions, municipalities, companies and consumers alike. But, where do we start? How do we actually create a sustainable, circular economy? How do companies broaden and adapt their businesses to become both profitable and circular? And, how can the public sector (municipalities and regions) adapt their tendering processes to impact the market?
In Cirkulära Halland (Region Halland’s project on circular business models), RISE has worked in close collaboration with industry and municipalities to create the prerequisites for a circular economy. This is our story.
