Projects: Ecodesign (FPS Health)
Okret recirculates clothing, repairs or reworks items and gives unsellable pieces a new lease of life through upcycling. The initiative makes circular entrepreneurship concrete, scalable and transparent, and helps fashion companies fundamentally rethink their value chain.
The textile sector is one of the most polluting industries in the world. This is largely due to the fast fashion model, with its rapid production cycles, mass-produced low-cost clothing, and garments that are barely worn. The results? Structural overproduction and a towering mountain of waste.
The Okret project launched by an Antwerp-based company specialising in recommerce within the fashion sector aims to change that model. Recommerce refers to the resale of second-hand products (often inspected or refurbished) to extend their lifespan and reduce waste. The team registers every product, organises return flows and systematically collects data.
Resale, repairRepair is making a faulty product work again, allowing its use to be extended without the user parting with it, or with a view to reuseReuse designates all operations by which substances, materials or products that are not waste are used again in an identical way to their originally intended purpose. (donation, second-hand sale)., remake
Okret has developed a unique and practical system that brings together four key elements:
The project supports companies integrating recommerce into their business model. In practical terms, this includes:
When customers return clothing or shoes to shops that have joined the initiative, each item is given a unique QR sticker. Employees register the condition and relevant characteristics in a digital application, enabling them to determine whether the item is suitable for further processing within the circular chain. Based on this registration, they choose the most appropriate next step.
Some items go to the brand's second-hand range. Others are repaired or reworked into new products, for example by upcyclingUpcycling consists of transforming waste into higher quality products. unsellable items, existing designs or collected textile remnants. These reworked items are then put back into circulation via Remode, Okret's circular studio and shop. When reuse is no longer possible, the item goes to recyclingAny recovery operation through which waste, including organic waste, is reprocessed to become substances, materials or products that can be used for their initial function or other functions.. In this way, each item is given a suitable destination and the material remains in circulation for as long as possible.
The application centralises the information and makes it accessible to retailers, logistics partners and repair workshops. It is being rolled out in Torfs stores, among others, where employees use the tool to register returned items and determine the appropriate next step.
Data as a lever for better design
An important part of the model is data analysis. By systematically tracking which products are returned and in what condition, brands gain insight into wear patterns, material choices and repair costs. They can use this information to improve their design and production processes. Transparency and traceabilityTraceability is the capacity to follow a product throughout the chain, from the supply of raw materials through manufacture and consumption to scrapping, in order to clarify when, where and by whom the product was made. of products help companies make smarter choices and are a strategic tool rather than an additional obligation.
The approach is also in line with the European EcodesignEcodesign allows a product design to be adapted in view of its repair or a full or partial repurposing of its components at the end of its useful life. for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). According to these rules, brands must design products more sustainably and will have to make information about their products available via a digital product passport in the near future. By systematically collecting and using product data now, companies are actively preparing for these future obligations.
Furthermore, ESPR provides for the gradual introduction of a ban on the destruction of unsold clothing and shoes, including returns and stocks. In this context, the platform can also be an interesting partner in putting these items back into circulation.
Collaboration and federal support
Okret combines practical experience from the fashion sector with academic expertise, including through collaboration with KU Leuven and Flanders Business School. Thanks to the support of the FPS Public Health through the Belgium Build Back Circular (BBBC) investment fund, the project can further develop and refine its circular approach in practice.
