June 24, 2025 Textile waste & recycling in focus at Performance Days 2025
Performance Days 2025 teams up with Future Fabrics Expo to accelerate textile innovation. With DAY 0 spotlighting waste and a renewed focus on textile-to-textile recycling, the October fair positions itself as a hub for circular solutions and material accountability.
Performance Days has announced a new partnership with Future Fabrics Expo, aiming to amplify material transparency and low-impact innovation in the textile sector. This strategic collaboration kicked off in June at Future Fabrics Expo in London, where a curated feature from Performance Days highlighted certification clarity and responsible sourcing. The partnership extends into New York this July, Munich this October and future shows in Portland.
“This cooperation enables Future Fabrics Expo’s curated Innovation Hub to reach new audiences,” says Nina Marenzi, founder of The Sustainable Angle.
“It underlines the role of innovation in transitioning supply chains toward nature-positive outcomes.”
Waste becomes the conversation starter at DAY 0
Before the fair opens its doors on October 29–30, Performance Days hosts DAY 0: a dedicated conference focused entirely on rethinking waste. Under the guiding theme, “In nature there is no waste,” this pre-day event on October 28 calls for a shift in perspective: from linear discard models to closed-loop material cycles.
Led by textile sustainability experts Bowie Miles and Charles Ross, DAY 0 offers participants practical tools to reduce and revalue waste. The event targets professionals in sustainability and design, encouraging collaboration to replace outdated processes with accountable systems.
Textile-to-textile recycling leads the Focus Topic
The fair’s autumn Focus Topic deepens this narrative with a spotlight on Textile-to-Textile (T2T) recycling. Unlike traditional recycled content claims, eligible submissions must include at least 50 percent recycled yarn sourced from actual post-consumer or post-industrial textiles—excluding common PET sources like bottles.
The goal is to advance circular systems that retain fiber quality while reducing dependence on virgin inputs. Submissions must also disclose supplier information and provide documentation on feedstock origin and certification where applicable.
Why it matters now
With months still to go before the October fair, the textile sector isn’t waiting. Policy movements across Europe are tightening expectations on circularity, and major brands face mounting pressure to disclose waste streams and supply chain practices. This backdrop gives the upcoming Performance Days its timeliness—and urgency.
As Charles Ross put it, “Business wants the longevity and resilience of nature—so why do we allow waste?”
October’s program won’t just ask this question. It aims to equip the industry with answers.
About Performance Days
Performance Days Functional Fabric Fair is a global hub for functional textiles and innovation, with events in Munich, New York, Portland and Shanghai. Twice a year the show brings together material experts, designers, brands and product managers to explore the latest trends and technologies in performance textiles.
Lead Photo: Performance Days
