The fashion industry is happy to market recycled garments as part of the development towards circular business models. It sounds great to hear that new clothes will be made from our old textiles. In addition, the chain stores offer us to hand in old garments for recycling in their stores. This effort creates a positive image of textile recycling and how it works perfectly, like clockwork. Then we can buy new clothes without feeling bad, right?
In fact, we have a long way to go before we reach this kind of circular clothing process. According to surveys, only fibres of around 1% of all collected clothes end up in new garments. Instead, most recycled clothing becomes fillers and insulation materials for the industry [1]. The textiles thus undergo a so-called downcycling. High-quality products are converted into rags, insulation, or some other type of low-quality material. When the clothes are not recyclable, we burn them.
YOU MAY HAVE SEEN TEXTILES WITH THE LABEL “100% RECYCLED POLYESTER”?
Recycled polyester often means that PET bottles are part of the material for the garment. Pet bottles are a material used in the textile industry to be able to use the word recycled. The PET bottles themselves are recyclable, and making new PET bottles from old ones is relatively energy efficient. After converting a PET bottle into textiles, we can’t transfer it back to a new bottle or produce a new fleece, meaning that the product reaches its “end of cycle” and can no longer be a part of a circular cycle.
Regarding natural materials, we are also far from a circular cycle. After several years of research and development, there is now technology for chemically recycling and producing clothes that consist partly of recycled materials. Garments in 100% recycled cotton have been made at the lab level but have not been made commercially. The garments marketed by clothing companies as garments in recycled cotton often contain around 20% recycled cotton. The rest of the garment consists of virgin material.
The fashion industry talks about the importance of developing circular business models and that clothes should be able to circulate in a cycle. The idea that recycled clothes can undergo repeated recycling is misleading since the poor quality of recycled fibres prevents their reuse. However, we hope to discover viable solutions in the near future!!
RECYCLED THREADS ARE ALSO DYED AND PROCESSED
Something that you may not think of when you talk about recycled fibres is that threads of recycled fibre must also be processed and dyed, which, like in average textile production, means a large consumption of water and chemicals. According to a Union for Conservation of Nature report, 17-20% of industrial water pollution comes from dyeing textiles [2]. So the best thing is, of course, to reuse as long as possible!
Today, as I said, there needs to be a working technology for recycling textiles on a large scale and creating new garments from recycled fibres. What does it depend on? Next week we will write about why it is so difficult to recycle clothes.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
- The best we can do for the environment is to take care of our textiles and use them for as long as possible. If you are tired of a garment, you can change garments with a friend or visit an organised change of clothes day. Find out if existing organisations already arrange a “change clothes day” in your country. If not, it might be something you can initiate.
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