Could you start by introducing yourself and your work leading the InTex programme at UNEP, and give us a brief overview of what you'll be presenting at the Textiles Recycling Expo EU? 

I am a development economist and social scientist with over 15 years of experience working with developing countries on environmental challenges, particularly in sustainable industrial practices, circular economy, waste management and resource efficiency. I bring this experience to UNEP’s work on circular textile value chains, where I lead the InTex programme. 

InTex focuses on advancing circular economy approaches in the textile sector in emerging and developing economies—including India, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa, and Tunisia with funding from the European Union and the Government of Denmark —by working at the intersection of manufacturing practices, policy frameworks, and industry engagement. 

At the Textiles Recycling Expo EU, I will share key insights from an upcoming UNEP LCA meta-study on circular textiles. The study looks at where the most significant impacts occur across the value chain, which interventions are most effective, and how recycling contributes within a broader circular economy transition. It is intended to provide a robust, evidence base to support more informed decision-making across the textile sector. 

Life cycle assessment can cut through a lot of the noise around sustainable textiles but it can also produce findings that challenge conventional wisdom. What's an example where the LCA evidence has surprised you or shifted your thinking? 

One of the most important findings from the LCA evidence is that extending the life of garments—through reuse, repair, or simply wearing them longer—often delivers the largest environmental benefits (around 20–30% in some studies), especially if the increased service life or longevity of the garment, avoids the production of new virgin textiles.  

This highlights that decisions made during the design, production and use-phases are critical. In that context, recycling is not a standalone solution: its benefits depend heavily on factors such as feedstock quality, collection systems, and the energy intensity of recycling processes. This reinforces the need to situate recycling within a broader circular economy approach rather than treating it in isolation. 

Importantly, LCA provides companies with a robust, science-based framework to move beyond assumptions and base decisions on quantitative, comparable evidence across the full life cycle. 

There's a tendency in the industry to reach for simple sustainability narratives: natural is good, synthetic is bad, recycled is always better. How well does that hold up when you apply rigorous life cycle thinking? 

Simplified narratives such as “natural is good,” “synthetic is bad,” or “recycled is always better” do not hold-up under rigorous life cycle assessment and can be misleading. There is no inherently “good” or “bad” fibre when considered in isolation. 

What matters is the full life cycle. Beyond production impacts, this includes how products are used (e.g. durability and frequency of use), the energy mix used in manufacturing, and what happens at end of life. Attempts to rank fibers purely on production impacts have been widely criticized, as they often rely on incomplete or inconsistent data and do not reflect these broader dimensions. That said, LCA studies consistently show that increasing the use of recycled fibres can deliver meaningful environmental benefits across multiple impact categories, particularly if the recycled material replaces the production of virgin material, avoiding energy-intensive stages associated with virgin fiber production. 

LCA helps shift the conversation away from generic claims towards a more nuanced understanding of impacts across the entire value chain.  

UNEP's InTex programme works to support more sustainable textile production globally, with a particular focus on emerging and developing economies. What are the most pressing issues you're working on right now, and where are you seeing meaningful progress? 

The main challenges we are addressing through InTex relate to high environmental impacts in manufacturing, as well as increasing pressures on competitiveness and market access for textile producers in emerging and developing economies. 

Our approach is to support a transition to a circular economy, which can simultaneously reduce environmental impacts and strengthen economic performance. By improving resource efficiency, lowering production costs, and aligning with evolving market and regulatory requirements, circularity becomes a driver of competitiveness rather than a constraint. 

In practice, we work with manufacturers—particularly SMEs—to improve production practices and reduce their footprint by strengthening access to data and promoting life cycle approaches. At the same time, we support governments in developing policy and regulatory frameworks that enable and incentivize circular business models. 

We are seeing progress in increased policy attention, stronger alignment around circular economy approaches, and growing investment in innovation. Importantly, this work is helping position textile sectors to maintain or improve their market access while transitioning to more sustainable and circular systems. 

Brands and policymakers are increasingly leaning on LCA data to inform decisions. How confident are you in the quality and consistency of the data underpinning those decisions, and where are the gaps? 

Companies are increasingly required to share data because it strengthens credibility, supports compliance with emerging regulations, and enhances market positioning, particularly as transparency becomes a key expectation in global value chains.  

In this context, UNEP—through initiatives such as the InTex programme and the Life Cycle Initiative—is working to improve the quality, consistency, and accessibility of data by promoting greater transparency, supporting data harmonization efforts, and building capacity in countries and companies to generate and use robust datasets. This includes encouraging common approaches, improving comparability across studies, and supporting the development of more reliable, context-specific data. 

Life cycle assessment plays a central role in this effort. As a structured and science-based methodology, LCA helps ensure that data is gathered consistently across the full value chain and translated into comparable, quantitative insights. While important methodological gaps remain, strengthening LCA practices is key to improving the evidence base and enabling more informed policy and business decision-making. 

Finally, what draws you to the Textiles Recycling Expo EU, and what do you hope an audience of recyclers, brands, and innovators takes away from a life cycle perspective on sustainable textile choices? 

The Expo brings together a critical mix of actors - from recyclers to brands to innovators - who are all essential to driving change across the textile value chain. From a life cycle perspective, I hope participants take away the importance of looking at impacts holistically, considering design, production, use, and end-of-life together, rather than focusing on single solutions in isolation. 

I also hope that the Expo can help participants recognize that, while the market is evolving rapidly and there are real tensions and uncertainties, investing in sustainability and circularity is not only about reducing environmental impacts. It can also help companies lower costs, build resilience, and position themselves ahead of the curve in a changing regulatory and market landscape. 

Finally, I look forward to exchanging with participants on ways to engage with UNEP’s work on textiles, including participation in the first International Conference of the Global Framework on Chemicals, a multi-stakeholder framework adopted in 2023, which marks a significant step forward in global efforts to manage chemicals and waste, and under which a dedicated programme on textiles will be established.