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The second “life” of clothes

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Today, only 1% of clothing materials are turned into new fabric

Η δεύτερη «ζωor» των ρούχων /></p> <p> Photo. Shutterstock </p> <p><em><strong>ANGELIS MEHTA</strong></em></p> <p>There is enough clothing on the planet that a new thread will never need to be woven again. In the United States and the EU, nearly 22 million tons of textiles are discarded each year and are found everywhere from the depths of the ocean to the Atacama Desert in Chile. Large amounts of what becomes trash in the global North is exported to become someone else's problem in the global South. As a result, if there was a circular economy, the billions of tons of existing clothing would have to be recovered and recycled at scale.</p> <p>Some US states are promoting legislation related to such recycling, while related EU proposals, made public in July, make producers responsible for the full life cycle of their textile products, and this is called extended producer responsibility. They will therefore have to cover the cost of managing their waste, a measure that is seen as an incentive to produce less waste and design a circular process. Legislation on eco-planning and design is also under preparation as part of a holistic approach to textiles in the EU market, which must be both recyclable and largely based on recycled fibers by 2030.</p> <p >Today, only 1% of clothing materials are turned into new fabric, which is in stark contrast to the findings of a circular economy project in Europe under the auspices of Fashion for Good. The survey of textile waste from six European countries showed that 74% of used clothing, i.e. almost 500,000 tonnes, is available and suitable for recycling. Potentially, this quantity can be valued at around €74 million if reintroduced into the value chain of the textile industry. And while the industry has a database of 100 mechanical and chemical recycling plants internationally, the scale is small. According to the Textile Exchange – an organization that aims to reduce the sector's emissions – 99% of recycled polyester comes from recycled plastic (PET) bottles, putting the fashion sector in competition with bottling, where in theory the plastic is potentially recycled much more often.</p> <p>Perhaps this tactic conflicts with the proposed EU directive. for eco-friendly ingredient claims. In this context, the claim that the use of recycled PET is environmentally beneficial may prove misleading, “if it competes with the recycling of food contact materials that are considered more beneficial under the criterion of circularity”. Finally, Richard Wielechowski, textile program director at financial think tank Planet Tracker, points out that it is up to clothing groups to invest in innovation, which does not come cheap. “For one thing, virgin fibers are so cheap that they are difficult to recycle, and when we refer to yarns as a whole, then they have to be picked and separated, but even then a fabric labeled 'cotton' or 'polyester' it can be mixed with other threads, have zippers and buttons and be dyed,” concluded Mr. Wielechowski.</p> <p><noindex></p> <div class=Source: www.kathimerini.com.cy

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