Copenhagen, Denmark – 04 June 2025: The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) today unveiled the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) Sector Guidance: Fashion and Textile v2.0, an updated and expanded guide designed to help fashion and textile companies measure, manage, and accelerate their transition to a circular economy.
Launched at the Global Fashion Summit 2025, the premier international forum for sustainability in fashion, the updated guidance is the result of a multi-stakeholder collaboration under the CTI Fashion Initiative, supported by the VF Foundation and co-led by WBCSD, VF Corporation, and Deloitte. The guidance draws on input from over 80 experts and organizations spanning the fashion and textile value chain.
Building on the initial release of the CTI Fashion and Textile guidance in January 2024 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, version 2.0 addresses sector-specific challenges with a sharpened focus on business value, impact, and regulatory readiness.
The update comes at a critical time. The global textile industry consumes 3.25 billion tonnes of materials annually, yet recirculates just 0.3%—leaving more than 99% sourced from virgin materials. Fast fashion continues to fuel chronic overproduction, with some brands launching as many as 24 collections a year. One in three garments goes unsold, while quality and durability decline due to the rise of synthetic, volume-driven production (Circular Economy, 2024).
“Version 2.0 of the CTI Fashion and Textile guidance includes practical guidance to companies for data collection, mandatory reporting requirements under ESRS E5, quantitative assessment for circular design and a new methodology to measure social impact. Use of this guidance therefore strengthens business decision making as well as consistent, credible reporting which is so important for the sector,” said Diane Holdorf, Vice President, WBCSD. ” By measuring both circular and linear material flows, the CTI methodology helps companies evaluate risk, assess impact, and make informed decisions that also align with decarbonization and nature goals.”
“The Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) framework aligns with upcoming regulatory requirements and helps companies more systematically link Circularity work to goals and initiatives focused on Climate, Nature and Circularity/Waste,” said Jeannie Renné-Malone, VP Global Sustainability, VF Corporation. “CTI enables us to speak a common language, with the aim to measure progress through industry-wide KPIs.”
The updated guidance supports companies in embedding circularity into every stage of business operations—from design and procurement to corporate KPIs—offering new and refined tools for implementation:
Key updates include:
- New guidance to support regulatory compliance readiness;
- Tailored indicators, design principles, and data strategies for various value chain stakeholders;
- An improved methodology for quantifying circular design;
- Enhanced strategies for regenerative resource inputs;
- A new framework for assessing the social impact of circular models.
The CTI Sector Guidance: Fashion and Textile v2.0 is now available for download at: https://www.wbcsd.org/resources/cti-sector-guidance-fashion-and-textile-v2-0/