Recycled Clothing — Opportunity and Challenge
In Sweden, about 14 kg of textiles are consumed per person per year and of this about 10 kg is clothing. According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the proportion of textile waste that is recycled is less than one percent. (see the government press release). The aim of collecting textile waste now is to increase the proportion of textiles that can be reused and recycled, instead of the textile being incinerated, for example.
Being able to recycle textile fibres would mean that today's linear business models became circular. In a traditional value chain, textile production begins with fibers, which are spun, woven or knitted into fabric that is then sewn and sold to consumers. Beyond a small percentage of clothing sold second hand, the consumer is the final step in this model. In a circular business model, textile waste would be collected from consumers, sorted, and ultimately reused or recycled as a new raw material for the textile industry.
Several of these steps are becoming real, partly through new collection requirements and partly through the sorting facility offered by Sysav. There are already some solutions that allow textile fibres to be reused, but there is a lack of capacity to recycle textile waste on a large scale.
For this reason, a number of actors gathered at a seminar during Almedalen Week to discuss how clothing can become a new raw material for the fashion industry. Participant was Cecilia Nykvist, CEO Teapot, Marcus Hartmann, Sustainability Manager H&M, Maria Persdotter Isaksson, Industry policy expert, southernMagnus Nikkarinen, Business Policy Expert, Swedish Trade and Malin Dahlroth, CEO Sewing saw, together with moderator Sofia Agrell at Rud Pedersen Public Affairs.
- Garment waste is a huge resource, but we need to dissolve some knots in order for the entire value chain to fall into place, said Malin Dahlroth, Sysav. At Sysav we can sort textiles by fibre type and colour and obtain fractions consisting, for example, of 95% cotton or polyester. The problem now is that there is insufficient capacity for recycling in the next stage. Although we see that there is a strong will in all parts of the value chain to find solutions, effective instruments are also needed to make this possible.
Maria Persdotter Isaksson of the member-owned forest owners association Södra spoke about their solutions for converting wood and textile residues and waste into materials for the textile industry.
- For 12 years we have been producing a dissolving pulp/textile pulp from wood mainly from deciduous trees. Dissolving pulp is mainly used in the textile industry to produce viscose and lyocell, but it has many other applications as well, like the production of cellophane and dishcloths, for example. Some time ago, we started innovating to be able to lift textile waste into the mass as well. Now we have the product Oncemore® which is a textile made of wood and recycled textiles. The OnceMore® pulp from Södra is the result of a large-scale process for recycling textile waste that we are early to be able to do — and it is the forest that makes it possible.
The conversation also discussed, for example, that many different solutions are needed and that you may need to work with waste at different levels — locally, nationally and internationally.
In the autumn, the EU will address the issue of producer responsibility for the industry, which will lead to further changes. You can hear the whole conversation here.