Sustainability and Circular Economy Practices in Türkiye’s Creative Industries

The creative industries, including production and fashion fields, have moved sustainability transformation from being a mere trend to becoming an operational standard. By 2026, green production practices extend from sets to ports, while the fashion industry has embraced circular economy with digital passports and repairable designs.

Green Steps in Production: From Sets to Peaks

In film, advertising, and event productions, efforts to zero out the carbon footprint have resulted in tangible outcomes. Stakeholders gathered at Akbank in February 2026 for Turkey’s “Green Transformation in Production” meeting by Ad Net Zero, where Nestlé Turkey’s sustainable processes served as a guide. Panels featuring names like Arda Öztaşkın and Semra Sevinç highlighted climate responsibility, with Ekin İlyasoğlu detailing the Ad Green framework.

• The international merger of EarthAngel and The Green Shot expanded green technology from Hollywood to Europe.
• EcoSet’s reDirect initiative transformed set waste into a zero waste cycle, repurposing costumes and decors for the community, reducing storage costs, and revitalizing the creative economy.

Critical milestones of the year shaped the industry: green hydrogen technologies were showcased at Hannover Messe, the EU’s Product Passport rules were clarified at the World Circular Economy Forum, and the Global Sustainable Aviation Summit commercialized aviation fuels. The COP31 Istanbul Summit in November highlighted Turkey on the global green stage.

Local support culminated in the TİM’s GOAL Green Challenge 2026. This EU-backed program connected exporters with carbon footprint and green logistics start-ups, paving the way for pilot projects and presentations at Turkey Innovation Week. Green port incentives and the proliferation of electric vehicles also made a difference in logistics.

Circular Revolution in Fashion: Data, Repair, and Passports

The fashion industry has evolved sustainability into a data-driven system. With the mandatory implementation of Digital Product Passports, brands completed pilots with third-party providers to transparentize their supply chains. Among the five trends identified by Lectra, resale platforms (Vinted, The RealReal) took the spotlight, pushing for textile innovation for recycling.

• Repairable fashion is on the rise, standardizing agriculture materials feeding biodiversity, exploitation-free supply chains, and dismantlable designs. Synthetic fiber reduction, microfiber thresholds, and fiber content disclosure via digital passports became normative.
• Organic cotton, bamboo, and recycled materials defined the 2026 trends.

Fast fashion transformed with binding policies: production volume restrictions, clean energy, and robust producer responsibility mechanisms came into play. As data infrastructure gaps were addressed, AI trend predictions, and 3D software accelerated sustainable production.

Common Impact: Industries Converging

This transformation interconnected creative industries. The mandatory Green Certificate in public buildings (over 10,000 m² since January 2026) introduced energy efficiency and waste management module by module, inspiring production and fashion fields. Sustainability teams transitioned from side projects to core decisions.

In conclusion, 2026 brought creative industries together in an “action era”: a green future validated by measurable data and strengthened by collaborations.