Textile recycling has existed for centuries, probably since ancient times, in the form of reusing parts of fabric to sew or tailor new garments. The individual threads of clothing were also unraveled in order to weave new textiles. These methods are mainly manual and therefore also very personnel- and time-intensive.
And they are also considered outdated in times of fast fashion and other cheap textiles. Mechanical and chemical processes are used. The composition of the material or the fibers is decisive for a large part of the technical difficulties and problems in recycling. The majority of garments are made from textile blends such as cotton with polyester.
Zippers and buttons as other problems
But even with the statement “100 percent pure cotton”, other textile materials cannot be ruled out: For example, the threads for the seams, but also trouser pockets could be made of synthetic fibers. This also makes recycling processes more difficult and complicated here. In addition, zippers and all kinds of buttons have to be removed – but there are already automated processes for this.
Polyester supremacy
According to the global NGO Textile Exchange, polyester is the most commonly used fiber in textiles worldwide, the BBC wrote. Overall, it accounts for 54 percent of global fiber production. Cotton comes second with around 22 percent.
The reason for polyester’s dominance is the low cost of fossil-based synthetic fibres, making it a popular choice for fast fashion brands, the BBC continues. According to the information, a kilo of polyester costs half as much as a kilo of cotton.
While the plastics industry has been able to break down polyethylene terephthalate, i.e. pure polyester (PET), with enzymes for decades, the mixture in textiles makes it extremely difficult to recycle one fiber without decomposing the other.
Cheap clothes as a boomerang
According to Harald Cavalli-Björkman, responsible for strategy at the Swedish textile recycling company Renewcell, fast fashion has also influenced consumer attitudes to the value of clothing in general by using inexpensive synthetic fibers. The cheap clothes become a boomerang. “Before we had industrialized textile production, people took care of their clothes,” says Cavalli-Björkman.
“They fixed them because clothes were an investment.” Today, clothes are so cheap that you think you can always grow a little more cotton, you can always pump a little more oil – it’s easier than bothering turning textiles and clothing back into a quality product, “something that already exists and could stay in circulation,” Cavalli-Björkman told the BBC.
Renewcell is a publicly traded Swedish company that chemically recycles textiles into pulp as a raw material for viscose and lyocell.
Expert: Recycling not the starting point
People often act as if they could recycle themselves from the landfill, says Natascha Radclyffe-Thomas, professor at the British School of Fashion and sustainability expert. While recycling is an important part of the solution, “recycling is not the starting point,” Radclyffe-Thomas said, according to the BBC.
She also pointed to overproduction and consumption as the main causes of the fashion industry’s waste problem. Inexpensive, low-quality clothing means that consumers often find it cheaper to buy than repair the garments.
PET bottle recycling “no circular model”
Another point is what is actually recycled. Many brands would often pride themselves on claims of recycling and reusing textiles. They would refer to their recycled polyester collections. But these garments are not circular in the textile industry because the material used is made from recycled plastic bottles and not from textiles.
“The vast majority of recycled polyester in fashion comes from a very different supply chain: the plastic bottle industry,” she said. “When brands started making clothes out of plastic bottles, it was initially seen as a very positive move. We now see that this is not a circular model,” she told the BBC.
The “one-way ticket to the landfill”
According to activists at the British NGO Changing Markets Foundation, “turning plastic bottles into clothing should be viewed as a one-way ticket to landfill, incineration or landfill,” the group said. In one of her technical reports, she also complains that clothing made from PET bottles releases microplastics into the environment and is not recycled several times.
According to an estimate by experts, only around one percent of recycled clothing ends up back in the closet. The conclusion is that fiber recycling hardly ever takes place in the textile industry.
fashion industry as a scumbag
Globally, the fashion industry is responsible for around ten percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, with textile production alone releasing an estimated 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year, according to 2020 figures.
Large amounts of water are also required for the production of the fabrics, not only for winding the cotton, but also for dyeing and washing. According to these estimates, the fashion industry is responsible for around a fifth of global wastewater. When it comes to cotton, the NGO Better Cotton wants to put pressure on producers in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility
EU shifts the textile problem abroad
According to the EU Environment Agency (EEA), the number of used textiles exported from the EU has tripled within two decades, as the most recent EEA report from the end of February shows, and thus only shifted the problem to other EU countries.
According to the EU authority, Europe faces major challenges when dealing with these textiles. Because the capacities for reuse and recycling in Europe are limited, a large part of the discarded and donated clothing is exported to Africa and Asia.
“The public perception that donations of used clothes are always useful in these regions does not reflect reality,” write the EU environmental experts. “Once exported, the fate of used textiles is often uncertain.”
Africa and Asia as main markets
In the year 2000 around 550,000 tons of textiles were exported. In 2019 it was almost 1.7 million tons. That corresponds to an average of 3.8 kilograms per person. 46 percent of the used textiles ended up in Africa. “The textiles are mainly reused locally because there is a demand for cheap, used clothing from Europe,” reports the Environment Agency. Anything that cannot be reused ends up in open landfills, for example.
According to the information, around 41 percent of the used textiles initially came to Asia in 2019, where they were sorted and processed at central locations. Most are either used as fabric or padding for industry, or sent to other Asian countries for recycling or to Africa for reuse. “Textiles that cannot be recycled or exported are likely to end up in landfills,” the report said.
