The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recently addressed the Security Council, highlighting the severe and unprecedented challenges to global peace and security. The Commissioner reported that 2024 has seen a dramatic increase in the number of refugees and internally displaced persons compared to previous years: In 2023, close to 120 million people were displaced as a result of war, violence, and persecution. While many of these crises are man-made, climate change and natural disasters are becoming increasingly significant threats, driving people to flee both within their countries and across international borders.
In response to these ongoing challenges, Closed Loop Fashion, in collaboration with project partners H. Nizam Din & Sons Private Limited and World of Tents/Alpinter SA, have secured additional funding to expand their joint efforts in advancing Circular Economy and Emission Reduction Targets in Humanitarian Aid products from disaster relief blankets to tents.
This new initiative focuses on two of the main types of tents used in humanitarian aid: the ‘blue tent’ and the ‘family tent’. These tents are complex products, consisting of a large number of components and materials such as textiles, metals, coatings, foam, and trims. To address this complexity, the project has enlisted seven new partners from the tenting industry.
A key component of the project is conducting a Life-Cycle-assessment (LCA) of the relief tents to evaluate the environmental impact of the current design. This assessment will gather data from every stage of the supply chain, including raw materials, manufacturing, and packaging. The LCA will identify critical areas for reducing CO2 emissions and improving the sustainability of tent designs and production methods.The results will form the basis for strategies to minimise the environmental footprint of disaster relief tents. These strategies will explore alternative materials, innovative designs, and end-of-life solutions, such as reusable components, design for disassembly and upcycling, ensuring that tents can be repurposed rather than discarded after their use in refugee camps.
This 3-year Public-Private-Partnership project, is co-financed by the German Investment and Development Corporation / DEG Impulse gGmbH from public funds of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and H. Nizam Din & Sons Private Limited and has been conceptualised and will be implemented by expert consultants of Closed Loop Fashion.
All images in this article are courtesy of Alpinter.
