The textile waste recycling sector is failing to supply sustainable clothing manufacturers with the required quantities

It seems counterintuitive, but the reality is that the production houses of clothing and fashion accessories are veering the wheel, strongly, towards recycled raw materials and are increasingly asking for textile waste to be recycled.

To meet the demands of customers, who want to buy fashion garments and accessories that can reflect their desire for eco-sustainability, uncompromising lines have been studied, with percentages of recycled materials declared and verifiable.

But is the recycling market ready for this transition?

The answer could be in a rather discouraging figure which indicates the recycling rate of textile waste, in the world, around 3%, a much lower value than the reviled plastic or glass or paper or metals.

This means that, despite the textile industry being among those with the greatest environmental impact, millions of clothes are produced every year that end up in landfills or , worse, burnt, at an average rate of a road train every second.

In this average recycling percentage, we find Western countries above three percent and Southeast Asian countries, where many productions are concentrated, below this threshold, with a negative peak in India of just 1.5%.

A serious problem, even from an industrial point of view and the image of companies that live in fashion, since customer requests are clear but their satisfaction remains complicated.

What can be done to increase the recycling system?

The textile waste recycling chain is quite backward compared to those mentioned above, such as plastic, glass, paper or metals, and you need to push to close the gap.

Among the main and most urgent actions to be taken we can suggest:

- Increase the post-consumer collection of used fabrics as is the case for other recycled products

- Improving separate collection by avoiding putting old clothes in the undifferentiated waste bag that will be burned

- Faced with a growing demand, industrialize and increase the collection points of textile waste by mechanizing their separation

- Increase chemical and mechanical research, in order to make the range of recovered fabrics increasingly available and wide

- Creating a system, therefore making responsible those who have to issue regulations on the recycling of textile waste, improve communication with citizens, make the collection, sorting sector attractive and profitable and recycling of fabrics.

According to Kearney's “Circular Fashion Index 2023” report, which took into consideration around 200 companies in the predominantly fashion sector and luxury, there are companies that are more virtuous than others, in terms of recycling textile waste, communication on circularity relating to the brand, quality for product maintenance and the possibility of offering a repair of the garment with the aim of extending its life .

In addition, some after-sales services were considered, such as the offer of used garments, the rental service and the collection of textile waste at the end of the garment's life.

The classification drawn up of the Top Ten most sustainable companies is the following:

1. Patagonia

2. Levi's

3. The North Face

4. OVS extension

5. Gucci

6. Madewell

7. Coach

8. Esprit

9. Lululemon Athletica

10. Lindex

Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.