WEFT turns one - reflections on the first year
As WEFT celebrates its first birthday, I’ve been reflecting on what we’ve achieved and how far we’ve come in such a short time. I’ve spent most of the last year focusing more time on WEFT and EPR, and less time on circular consulting at QSA Partners - it’s hard to believe how quickly the time has passed!
The big launch
We certainly started as we mean to go on; collaboratively and on a platform with clout. We were proud to host our EPR Sandbox White Paper launch at the UKFT Sustainability Conference in 2024. This gave Kristina and I the opportunity to announce the creation of WEFT as an independent company and we received international recognition for our groundbreaking approach to simplified variable EPR fees (or “eco-modulation”) harnessing the data that brands already have in their systems.
The awards & nominations
Our work has received several awards and nominations - we were a finalist at the Drapers awards in 2024, shortlisted at the Industry.fashion awards, highly commended at the Retail Technology Innovation Hub Awards, won a Retail Systems Award in 2025 and we’ve been nominated for an Eartshot 2025 award…we’re definitely on to something!
WEFT is a tiny company and we couldn’t do this without strong partnerships with a group of great likeminded people and businesses.
The influence
Kristina and I have ploughed ourselves into industry engagement with a whole host of stakeholders and focused on getting textiles EPR on the UK government’s agenda. Mindful of how we really are the S in SME but also because we know that collaboration is the only way to deliver success.
In close partnership with UK Fashion & Textiles, the British Retail Consortium and the British Fashion Council we’ve provided detailed evidence and analysis to Defra’s Circular Economy Task Force to show them how an EPR system can benefit the UK textiles sector - especially the downstream circular actors who are essential to making repair, resale, collection, sorting and recycling work properly. We’re making the case for the job creation and green growth that the industry can create at zero cost to the government.
We’ve released two more White Papers - one on the analysis of UK SME manufacturing brands and another on the level of EPR fee that UK shoppers wouldn’t even notice. This shopper research can break open global EPR thinking - so far too many policymakers have been scared to upset shoppers when in fact shoppers are ready to pay for their textile waste problems to be solved properly!
The challenges
Starting up a business is tough - especially when we’re trying to create change and many brand boards are focused on next week’s figures rather than the strategic picture. Why are so many companies in permanent firefighting mode?
But we’re motivated by the many aligned organisations driving for the same kind of change and we’re dedicated to growing WEFT into a core part of each brand’s thinking and planning for commercially-driven sustainability.
While industry engagement is great, it doesn’t put food on the table. We’re deeply grateful to those brands and partners who’ve paid WEFT for its services and helped us survive the first 12 months and give us a platform to raise the investment we need to grow.
The need for speed
Textiles EPR in the UK is more of a burning issue than some people think. My own view is that the current government has until the end of this Parliament (August 2029?) to get legislation for textiles EPR in place. The industry is calling for this urgent change - the UK Fashion & Textiles Association, the British Retail Consortium and the British Fashion Council are all highlighting this industry call in their publications.
It’s hard to tell who will be in government after that…and it could even be someone with weird views on Net Zero and who feels that EPR won’t help the industry. Such misalignment with producers - who are delivering science-based targets for their investors - may mean we miss the chance to get good textiles EPR legislation in place until 2035. And that doesn’t bear thinking about!
This is what makes the work of Defra’s Circular Economy Task Force so critical for the textile and fashion sector. This is the moment in time, this is the opportunity and unusually perhaps, industry are not fighting the change - if government are to use the task force and actually listen they will hear an appetite for change.
We all need to stand up and be counted! Now is the time to be bold - we all need to be able to look the next generations in the eye and be proud of the positive changes we have helped make.
The the future
We believe that what we’re developing at WEFT is the future for Textile EPR: simpler systems, lower admin burden and clearer business cases for brands to improve their product design and circular services to customers.
There’s still a hell of a long way to go. Kristina and I are committed to the fight, I hope you’re ready to join us for the next 12 months of hard work.