From Waste to Value: The Realities of Textile Recycling Today

Описание: Each year an estimated 100 billion garments are produced, of which 92 million tons end up in landfill, and according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, only 1% are recycled into new materials. If the fashion industry could achieve a closed-loop system, nothing would ever go to the landfill. Instead, clothes would be endlessly recycled and made into new garments. The problem, however, is that we currently can't do that — at least not at scale.

Though the technology for recycling fibers into new fibers does exist and has been successfully executed, many challenges stand in the way of making textile-to-textile recycling a viable solution to the industry's waste. While industry professionals agree that recycling is a crucial and urgent part of the circular agenda, industry buy-in is slow. Investments in the textile recycling space are largely seen as risky due to the amount of capital needed and the extended timeframe to commercialization.

In true chicken-and-egg fashion, brands and manufacturers are stalling on committing to use recycled materials until they are cost-competitive with virgin fibers. However, this lack of demand signaled by the brands deters investors from financing the innovation needed to scale commercialization.

So, where do we go from here?

For textile recycling to become an impactful reality, the gaps between logistics, technology, investment, and infrastructure must be closed. How can we move the industry and push past initial concerns to overcome the obstacles of scaling the circular textile economy?

In celebration of National Recycling Day, For Days CEO & Co-Founder Kristy Caylor, Evrnu CEO & Co-Founder, Stacy Flynn, and Closed Loop Partners Managing Director Caroline Brown discuss the realities of textile-to-textile recycling today and the future of circular thinking.

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