Lynn has over 30 years’ experience in the textile industry, many of which focused on the Circular Economy. From 2016 -2017, she was Sector Manager – Manufacturing, Zero Waste Scotland, implementing the Circular Economy workstream of the National Manufacturing Action Plan. Prior to this role, she was the Sector Manager – Textiles, Circular Economy team at Zero Waste Scotland, contributing to Making Things Last – A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland (2013-2016).
In 2015, she undertook a Churchill Fellowship, spending one month in Japan, researching circular textile heritage, technology, and clothing retail systems to achieve a circular economy. Lynn setup Circular Design Synergy (formerly Circular Design Scotland) in 2017 to bridge the gap between Circular Economy research and industry expertise. They work with design-led businesses to advise on the adoption of circular business models through using alternative material sources compatible with bio-regenerative systems or industrial closed loops. They also carry out extensive research into sustainable materials exploring the potential for circularity which feeds into their training course, A Circular Material Lens™.
Through their Resident Entrepreneur project, CDS carried out crucial R&D activities supporting the creation of their Circular Materials Repository. This involved researching and profiling up to 800 material samples that can be used within circular product and service systems. They also explored visualisation mapping software as a means to develop a circular supply chain tool to help businesses understand what material circularity would mean for them. In 2023, Dr Lynn Wilson presented some of the research carried out during the Resident Entrepreneur at the annual World Textile Conference in a paper entitled Building a Circular Materials Repository, ‘Conveying the Complexity of Materials for Circularity’.
