Is textiles recycling the answer to our problems?
Every week, 15 million used garments pour into the capital of Ghana intended for donation or recycling. Of these 40% end up dumped in a landfill. In Ghana they call them “obroni wawu” – dead white mans clothes. (ABC News)
Ever since we learnt about it at our school’s climate week, we’ve been taught that recycling is the obvious solution to our global waste problems. The wonder of turning trash into new products is contrasted with the dystopian landfill which so deeply harms our planet. When we recycle we do it not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it makes us feel good. We think to ourselves, “it’s ok to buy this because I know I’ll recycle it later on”.
But when it comes to textiles, recycling isn’t that clear-cut. Even if that top you were once or twice or that hoody that your child grew out of makes it through the recycling plant, it’s environmental impact will likely not be offset.
Problems with textiles recycling
Our clothes are made of complex combinations of fabrics, some of which cannot be easily sorted and processed.
The most common poly-cotton mixes common in fast fashion items make it impossible to fully recycle. Clothes which can’t be recycled often end up being shipped to landfills overseas.
The most common form of textile recycling involves shredding fabrics into smaller fibres. This compromises the strength of the fibres and most often means than the new material is no longer suitable to be used for clothing.
Chemical recycling (in which the fibre integrity is maintained) is currently too expensive to be employed on a mass scale. This process also raises other environmental concerns around the safe disposal of chemicals involved.
Currently, recycled cotton must be mixed with virgin fibres to be useful.
Is hope lost?
Research conducted by the Waste & Resources Action Programme has found that extending the average life of clothes by just three months would lead to a 5-10% reduction in the carbon, water and waste footprints of the garments. The truth is that the longer we keep existing garments in circulation, the more we displace the need to buy new garments therefore preventing the environmental cost of producing them in the first place. By renting our garments out to an average of 5 different families, we can stop 4 new items from being bought new and reduce their environmental impact by 80%!
And that’s not to say that recycling is all bad. It holds a great opportunity for reducing global textiles waste. But only if our clothes manufactures start designing ‘closed-loop garments’ which can be efficiently recycled. And if consumers stop thinking that recycling will even out the over-consumption created by fast fashion.