European textile consumption ranks fourth in environmental impact, trailing food, housing, and mobility. Clothing brands are embracing responsibility for circularity, promoting recycling and minimizing waste.
The EU generates 12.6 million tons of textile waste per year. Clothing and footwear alone accounts for 5.2 million tons of waste, equivalent to 12 kg of waste per person every year. Currently, only 22 % of post-consumer textile waste is collected separately for re-use or recycling, while the remainder is often incinerated or landfilled.
One of the main challenges in textile recycling lies in the complexity of garments. Current technology struggles to accurately determine the composition of textiles beyond their surface layer. As a result, the textile sorting and recycling industry primarily focuses on single-layer garments for processing solutions.
However, there's hope on the horizon. There's a growing understanding and capability to design garments, accessories, and footwear to be up to 100% recyclable.
Moreover, advances in technology and supply chain management now enable the disassembly and recycling of even the most complex items. The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which is an environmental policy approach that shifts the responsibility of a product's lifecycle to the producer, including design, take-back, recycling, and final disposal helps to speed up those advancements considerably. These exhibitors in the Sustainability Hub will set you up for Zero Waste.
Iteratif
Re:down
Sympatex Impact Program Design
Interzero
YKK’s Sustainability Vision
Vaude – design for life
Sources:
(1) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/ip_23_3635