The escalating climate crisis has urged people and institutions the world over to live more sustainably. On an individual level, more and more people are pursuing lifestyle changes aimed at reducing waste and pollution.
Such changes include recycling and purchasing items made out of recycled materials. Many of us, for instance, have already begun working to reduce plastic waste by cutting down on using straws and single-use grocery bags. It’s time to take it a step further and turn our attention to other recyclable materials that feature just as prominently in our daily lives, namely fabrics and textiles.
These days, fashion brands have begun to produce and carry products made out of recycled materials. From T-shirts to scarves to crew socks, it’s highly likely you’ve stumbled upon such items in the catalogues of your favourite stores. Should you choose to support recycling efforts financially by buying these products, you’ll better appreciate your purchase if you understand the costs, implications, and outcomes of textile recycling.
Read on for a deep dive into some of the most important facts regarding fashion items made out of more sustainable materials:
Current Fashion Industry Practices Do Significant Environmental Harm
Current research identifies the fashion industry as one of the biggest contributors to pollution and environmental degradation in the world today, particularly with the advent of fast fashion. As of 2020, the industry has produced 10 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions and 20 percent of all wastewater worldwide. Current methods of industrial clothing production also still utilize non-renewable resources, like petroleum, in unsustainable quantities.
On a consumer level, dominant culture also tends to encourage us to buy more clothing than we can wear and to discard it after relatively short periods. Mass-produced clothing, after all, tends to be cheap and easy to replace. Furthermore, rapidly shifting trends and tastes often serve to shorten the lifespans of clothes that, materially speaking, would have been wearable for years with proper care.
Very Little Clothing Actually Gets Recycled
Compared to better-known types of recyclables like cardboard, glass, and plastics, textile-based items like old clothes and shoes are more likely to be thrown away by consumers than recycled. In the United States, for example, PET bottles have recycling rates of about 29 percent, whereas paper and glass sit at 66 percent and 27 percent, respectively. Textiles, meanwhile, fall behind significantly at a mere 12 percent.
Old clothes that have been disposed of by their owners, meanwhile, are either incinerated or dumped into landfills, generating waste in the tens of millions of tons. Furthermore, research shows that a significant fraction of clothes that are disposed of each year remain in good or even perfect condition, with many pieces only having been worn once by their prior owners, if at all.
Textiles Are Difficult to Recycle
Besides a lack of awareness on the part of consumers regarding available avenues for textile recycling, the material composition of most commercial items of clothing makes recycling them extraordinarily challenging. The problem comes mostly from the fact that clothes tend to be composed of a mix of materials—such as natural and synthetic fibres, plastics, metals, and dyes—that can’t all be recycled together.
Manually separating the components of most clothing, however, is too labour and resource-intensive a process to be viable on an industrial scale. At present, researchers all over the world are continually working on technology to identify and extract the different components that make up a piece of clothing. Most agree, however, that developing these technologies further to fully recycle large volumes of clothing is still far from feasible.
Currently, the most popular ways for consumers to “recycle” old clothes are to resell them or donate them for reuse to nonprofit organizations or charity shops. Some claim, however, that these methods are simply a means of passing the problem of textile waste on to other people. Such organizations are still likely to send the majority of clothes they receive out for recycling in some way due to poor quality materials. These may be shredded at recycling plants and used to stuff mattresses or car seats.
Many Major Brands Are Starting to Pursue Sustainable Business Practices
Growing awareness of the fashion industry’s significant negative environmental impacts has, in recent years, led consumers to demand constructive action from its key players. That said, some skeptics doubt whether large clothing companies will support sustainable approaches at the expense of greater, faster profits.
Many major brands, however, have begun to heed these calls by coming out with sustainable products or revisiting their business practices. Some brands, for instance, have pledged to make use of recycled materials in most, if not all, of their products. Certain companies have even developed specific products or product lines that utilize recycled fibres or plastics. This turn toward prioritizing recycled over virgin materials for clothing production could prompt a pivotal shift toward greater sustainability for the industry as a whole.
Doing our part for the planet doesn’t begin and end with manufacturing and buying recycled clothes. If we hope to alleviate the harm the fashion industry has caused the environment, it’s equally necessary for manufacturers and consumers alike to revisit their core beliefs about clothing as a whole. Slowing down and reflecting upon how clothing is made, how we value it, and the impact it has on the world around us is key to building a more mindful, environmentally sustainable clothing culture.
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