The role of Data Spaces in circular textile – Our contribute in ETP Annual Conference 2026
Circularity starts with collaboration
The transition towards a circular textile economy is often associated with technological innovation, new materials and digital tools. It’s true but these elements are not the unique that you have to think about.
A truly circular value chain depends on something much more fundamental: collaboration.
In a traditional linear economy, each company can focus on optimizing its own processes. Once a product leaves a factory, the responsibility often moves to the next actor in the chain. Circularity changes this paradigm entirely. The value of a product no longer depends only on how it is produced, but also on how it is used, repaired, reused, recycled and reintegrated into the system.
This means that every actor becomes connected to what happens before and after their own activities. As a result, no organisation can create circular value alone.
When information stops, circularity stops
One of the biggest barriers to circularity is not the lack of data, but the inability to access the right information when it is needed.
Textile value chains involve a large number of stakeholders: raw material suppliers, manufacturers, brands, logistics operators, retailers, recyclers and consumers. Each actor generates valuable information that can support more sustainable decisions throughout the product lifecycle.
When information remains locked within a single point of the value chain, the entire chain loses efficiency.
A recycler may not know which materials are contained in a garment. A manufacturer may lack visibility on upstream sustainability practices. Brands may struggle to demonstrate traceability and compliance. In each of these situations, the missing link is not technology itself, but the inability to share relevant information across the ecosystem.
Circularity can only function when information flows as efficiently as materials.
Data sharing does not mean giving away everything
One common misconception is that circularity requires companies to disclose all their data.
This is not the case.
Successful data sharing is not about creating public databases where every piece of information becomes accessible to everyone. Instead, it is about ensuring that the right actors can access the right information, at the right level of detail, under controlled conditions.
A circular economy should operate on a “need-to-know” principle.
Some information must remain protected because it represents competitive value. Other information becomes significantly more valuable when shared because it enables traceability, compliance, sustainability assessment and collaboration across the supply chain.
The goal is therefore not open data everywhere, but controlled interoperability.
Data Spaces: building trust through controlled sharing
This is where Data Spaces become particularly relevant.
Data Spaces provide a framework that enables organisations to exchange information while maintaining control over their own data.
Rather than moving all information into a central platform, each organisation remains the owner of its data and decides what can be shared, with whom and under which conditions.
The exchange is enabled through dedicated connectors that act as secure interfaces between organisations. These connectors allow data to be exposed while preserving governance, permissions and ownership.
As a result, companies can collaborate more effectively without compromising confidentiality.
The focus shifts from data ownership to data accessibility and trust.
Sharing metadata, not necessarily the data
Another important aspect of Data Spaces is that collaboration does not always require sharing the underlying data itself.
In many cases, sharing metadata is sufficient.
Metadata can provide information about the existence, characteristics, origin or availability of a dataset without exposing sensitive business information. This allows organisations to discover relevant information quickly and understand what is available before any actual data exchange takes place.
The process becomes faster, more secure and easier to manage because permissions and access rules are already embedded within the Data Space framework.
Instead of repeatedly negotiating access conditions, organisations can rely on predefined governance mechanisms that facilitate trusted collaboration.
The Digital Product Passport opportunity
Looking ahead, the introduction of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) is expected to further accelerate the need for effective information exchange across textile value chains.
The DPP will require product-related information to remain accessible throughout the entire lifecycle of products, involving multiple stakeholders and different stages of the value chain.
Without structured collaboration mechanisms, managing this information could become complex and fragmented.
Data Spaces offer a promising solution by creating the infrastructure needed to connect different actors, systems and datasets while maintaining data sovereignty and security.
Technology works only when people are ready to collaborate
While Data Spaces provide the technological foundation for interoperability and traceability, technology alone cannot create a circular economy.
Digital transformation must always go hand in hand with people transformation.
Organisations need trust, shared objectives and a collaborative mindset to fully unlock the potential of data sharing. Technology can facilitate the exchange of information, but it is people who decide to participate, cooperate and build value together.
The future of circular textiles will therefore depend not only on smarter digital infrastructures, but also on stronger communities capable of working collectively towards common sustainability goals.
Because in a circular economy, collaboration is not an option.