Global initiative “Fashion for Good” aims to inspire change and to make fashion a force for good. In collaboration with Dutch Foundation “Circle Economy” a new report, “Sorting for Circularity Europe’ was recently launched. The 16-month study in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom shows that 74% (approx. 494,000 tons) of textiles are already available for fibre-to-fibre recycling in these countries. This quantity represents a value of EUR 74 million in sorted and recycled textiles that can be returned into the value chain.
The study explored the composition of textile waste in Europe. Cotton appeared to be the dominant fibre (42%), followed by a large percentage of material blends (32%), such as poly-cottons (12%). It was assessed that – based on material composition, colour and the presence of zippers and buttons, etc. – 21% of the analysed materials can be used as raw materials for mechanical recycling. While 53% is suitable for chemical recycling.
At the same time, only 2% of post-consumer textiles are currently being used for fibre-to-fibre recycling. Since the quantity of collected textile waste is expected to rise substantially in the years to come, more investments and policy changes will be necessary in order to maintain and increase sorting capacity.
