About Textile Recycling
Valuable Resources are Lost
Despite of several efforts by textile collectors, most of textile`s products is going to landfill and incineration instead of being reused or recycled. In Europe, about 78% of post-consumer textile waste are landfilled or incinerated. About 22% of post-consumer textile waste is collected separately, whereof around 8% is reused and 32% is recycled within EU while the rest is exported [1].
Increasing Consumption Aggravates the Environmental Problem
Since 2000, the clothing production has approximately doubled. Besides the growth of middle-class population, the increase is mainly due to the fast fashion concept. The average time a clothing is worn has decreased by 36% compared to 2000[2]. GFA and BCG project that the global clothing consumption will rise by 63%. This means from 62 million tons today to 102 million tons in 2030, an equivalent of more than 500 billionT-shirts[3].
Better Waste Management is not enough
To reduce the loss of resources and increase a better waste management in Europe, the mandatory separate collection for textiles as from 2025 was implemented in the revision of the Waste Framework Directive in 2018 (2008/98/EG). However, with regards to the high environmental impact of the textile sector, the New Circular Economy Action Plan[4] published in March 2020 focusing besides on the construction area also on the textile sector.
“A comprehensive EU Strategy for Textiles will be proposed by the Commission”
- strengthening the industrial competitiveness and innovation
- boosting sustainable and circular textiles including reuse market
- addressing fast fashion
- driving new business models
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1 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_3635
2 Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017): A NEW TEXTILES ECONOMY: REDESIGNING THE FASHION´S FUTURE
3 Global Fashion Agenda & The Boston Consulting Group (2017): Pulse of the Fashion Industry
4 A New Circular Economy Plan: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:9903b325-6388-11ea-b735-01aa75ed71a1.0017.02/DOC_1&format=PDF
