As California’s much-hyped Responsible Textile Recovery Act (SB 707) chugs along the path of implementation, one industry organization is keeping track of the milestones.
To help supply chain stakeholders keep up with what’s known, what’s pending and what is coming next, American Circular Textiles has launched a public SB 707 implementation tracker. Both the organization and its initiative are helmed by Rachel Kibbe, founder and CEO of Circular Services Group, a sustainability-centric strategic advisory firm also known as CSG, and American Circular Textiles, an independent policy intelligence and access platform also known as AMCIRC.
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“We’re moving from ‘awareness this is happening’ to ‘what do we do?’ and there’s very limited clarity on how the program will function in practice. Companies are trying to understand the implications for their businesses, not just the policy intent,” Kibbe told Sourcing Journal. “One of the biggest things that makes companies nervous is: ‘Do I not know something that’s already publicly available?’”
The implementation tracker will act as a living resource that aggregates milestones, workshops, documents and emerging questions as California’s textile EPR program evolves from policy to practice.
“It’s a neutral informational resource—not a position,” Kibbe said, noting that the tracker should be useful to any company, regardless of what outcomes they want to see. “That’s so important,” per Kibbe, “because the process in itself is complicated, right?” And while there will be room for advocacy organizations, trade associations, and coalitions to take their various positions, this has to come first, Kibbe continued.
“Our perspective as an organization is this has to work for everyone. It’s a huge undertaking and the first time we’ve done this in the United States,” she said, noting it’s one of the largest markets in the world, too.
“There are a lot of innovators and startups and existing businesses that are depending on this rollout being successful,” Kibbe said. “And we want to see it be as successful as possible. And we can’t possibly know how to make sure that that happens, to the extent of our power, if not everyone’s operating from the same information.”
If the organization is “convening space by nature,” which means a place that intrinsically facilitates interaction and collaboration, then AMCIRC’s convening is shaped by the companies engaged in its work, per Kibbe—assuming they have the right information.
“That’s what our whole platform and meetings and engagement is with companies: its providing them information around policy and having them synthesize it,” Kibbe said. “But we aren’t the experts on their businesses. We cannot help them take positions or take positions on their behalf without ensuring that they all have the same information.”
The tracker will be publicly available information that the engagement platform aggregates into one space—plus information provided by key stakeholders, such as the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) and Landbell USA, its selected producer responsibility organization (PRO).
Kibbe shared hopes that these state agencies, alongside all relevant players throughout the textile value chain, will also benefit from the opportunity to push out any information they want everyone to have.
“Some companies are of the stance that they respond to policy and they fulfill regulations, but they don’t take positions,” Kibbe said. “And that may continue to be their position, but if they have all the information laid out in front of them, they may decide they need to have a seat at the table.”
Or not. And that’s the point. “We know this is complex,” Kibbe said. “But if you can take it in bite-sized pieces and know what you should essentially be focusing on right now, I think that’s just really key for human brains.”
For context, AMCIRC was founded in 2022 to unify the fashion industry on sustainability policy. Its mission is to promote policies and initiatives that reduce waste—such as strengthening textile recycling streams or supporting domestic manufacturing—in tandem with fostering collaboration throughout the supply chain. The trade group advocates for federal and state-level policy—including supporting initiatives such as the “Slow Fashion Caucus” and the Americas Act—and lobbies on behalf of circularity-focused retailers, such as H&M Group and The RealReal.
“Structural challenges across every space we occupy—from societal to business—where we can alleviate some structural pains, we try to,” she said. “To the extent that we’re able.”
The coalition worked closely with the bill authors and sponsors throughout the drafting and legislative process for SB 707. The coalition’s membership includes those in the reuse and recycling pipeline, such as SuperCircle, Circ, Evrnu, and Trove, as well as brands like Reformation and resale players like Thredup.
