Why recycled fashion

Nearly million tons of clothing and shoes are sold worldwide every year. After being carried, 85 percent of them land on landfills or are burnt instead of flowing back into product and material cycles. The reasons for this are a lack of consumer awareness and a lack of collective structures in many countries. Instead of heading for landfills, excessive clothing and shoes circulate in a closed loop of product and material and are used repeatedly for the production of new products.

The newly developed take-back system brings this vision step by step into reality and is already successfully used by many other companies. That number equals more fabric than in million t-shirts. Garments can already be made of percent recycled material when using previously recycled material such as polyester.

However, as of right now, one garment contains up to 20 percent recycled fibers cotton or wool without any reduction in quality or durability. That number can increase by creating demand and investing directly into technological innovation. The ultimate goal is to find a technological solution to be able to fully reuse and recycle all donated textile fiber, but the immediate task at hand is to minimize the risks of fashion ending up in the dump.

It may have the texture of wool, the lightness of linen or the sleekness of silk. Textile production consumes 1. Synthetics also continue to have an impact long after production, shedding plastic microfibers into the environment when clothes are washed.

This seems like an environmental win. The common recycled substitute for virgin synthetics are polyethylene terephthalate PET bottles, the most common type of plastic bottles, which are produced in the billions each year.

The demand for recycled synthetics from industries including fashion is expected to accelerate. Many big brands are setting targets. Synthetics make up the second-largest share of fibers after cotton for Gap Inc, said Alice Hartley, director of product sustainability and circularity at the company. The products transport route supply chain played a big role in this tender, as well as the sources of the used materials.

Poland recycles approximately Apart from that, the country imports further textile waste to supply local recycling companies with material for their recycling purposes.

The value of the Polish domestic market for second-hand clothing is estimated at PLN billion per year. Recyled fashion has not reached the Czech population to the same extent as in other European countries. However, the country processes a lot of recyclable materials that can be used for the production of new apparel.

However, recycling companies like The ET Group are focused on the collection, processing, delivery and sale of textile waste and products. Also, organisations like the Red Cross Czechia are collecting used apparel to distribute it to needy people and sell it to recycling companies. There are some promising new technologies that are able to separate the most common blend of cotton and polyester, such as Worn Again and Blend Re:wind.

There is also a number of companies who are innovating textile recycling, for example Resyntex , Re:newcell and Evrnu Technologies produce secondary raw materials from textile waste, Infinited Fiber turns textile, cardboard and agricultural waste into new cotton, Worn Again Technologies turns polyester polymers and cellulose from cotton, non-reusable textiles, and PET bottles and packaging into new textile raw materials.

The donation of old garments is supported by many non-profit and corporate programs. For example, Adidas, Ralph Lauren and Aquafil have launched collections made of recycled plastic waste and Diesel has teamed up with Coca-Cola to launch The Re Collection made of partially recycled materials, including plastic bottles and recycled cotton.

Other companies have repurposed second-hand trash, unsaleable stock and waste to produce high quality kitchen textiles, home textiles, bedding, packaging, shoes and clothing for example The New Denim Project , MUD Jeans , and Rifo. Textile and clothing companies in Europe currently research on the production of yarn with a high incorporation of recycled cork.

This new yarn is expected to show more strength and elongation, as well as abrasion resistance and less interrelated CO2 emission. The Circular Design Software offers a platform for material suppliers, fashion brands, and recyclers to create an identification scheme for reusable materials to simplify its assignment for the use by clothing manufacturers.

It is connected to sorting software, product development tools, and guidelines for circular design. Options and benefits to update, resell or recycle a garment are presented.

Please review our market information disclaimer. There is an expectation floating around that consumers are willing to sacrifice quality for sustainability. As I start to future-cast for , I think this will be the new normal. All of the products we create today will have value in the future and will naturally come back into the system. Share this on:.

The European market potential for recycled fashion. Last updated: 30 August Takes 21 minutes to read. Contents of this page Product description What makes Europe an interesting market for recycled fashion?

Which European countries offer most opportunities for recycled fashion? Which trends offer opportunities or pose threats for the European Recycled Fashion market? Start producing clothing that is durable and will have a higher resale value.

Consider producing clothing from recycled materials and fibres, especially the leftover materials from your production sites. Be creative and evaluate local waste materials which could be used for the production of new clothes. To learn more about the circular economy visit the Ellen MacArthur Foundation initiative for Making Fashion Circular , read about the different projects and strategies for reducing textile waste and improving recycling and read the research publications of the Mistra Future Fashion.

Tips: Focus your export efforts on the top six markets: Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, and the Czech Republic, because they constitute the biggest apparel markets in Europe, with the largest population of environmentally conscious consumers.

Other markets that are smaller but very environmentally conscious include the Scandinavian markets. If you are already collaborating with leading brands, contact them to ask about the opportunities in recycled fashion and get in touch with companies that are already known for recycling to understand whether you could become a supplier. Think about the scrap materials that you generate as part of your production process as well as any unsold inventories and think about how you can reuse them in clothing or home textiles production.

Ideally, you would need to provide innovative and eye-catching designs for this new apparel and textiles.