It ain't fashion, if it ain't sustainable

Tetiana Pushkarova

Snapshot / Recycling Crisis / III

4 June 2025

7 minutes

A diffusion of responsibility prevents coordinated action and enables continued inaction. Brands blame inadequate infrastructure, recyclers cite insufficient feedstock quality, governments point to industry resistance, and consumers expect affordable options without understanding environmental costs.

Policy Patchwork: How Regulatory Gaps Are Sabotaging Europe's Circular Textile Ambitions

Despite separate textile collection becoming mandatory across EU member states from January 2025, fragmented implementation and enforcement gaps undermine circular economy progress. Industry experts reveal how regulatory inconsistencies and misaligned policies are preventing meaningful recycling outcomes across European markets.

Subir Ghosh

Feature

Spotlight: Recycling Crisis

Snapshot / Recycling Crisis / II

3 June 2025

7 minutes

With Europeans producing 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste annually and most still ending up burned, dumped, or exported, the industry needs solutions that can deliver impact today, not in decades. The frenzied rush towards chemical recycling, while potentially transformative, risks creating expensive, exclusive pathways that leave the majority of textile waste unaddressed.

Beyond Chemical Promises: Why Textile Recycling Needs a Technology Reality Check

Chemical recycling attracts billions in investment promises while proven mechanical methods remain underutilised. With 73% of collected textile waste still landfilled or incinerated globally, industry experts question whether technological tunnel vision is preventing immediate impact and realistic circularity solutions.

Subir Ghosh

Feature

Spotlight: Recycling Crisis

Snapshot / Recycling Crisis / I

2 June 2025

7 minutes

The textile recycling market is projected to grow, but investment remains concentrated in companies that can demonstrate material flow predictability

The Data Divide: How Traceability Gaps Are Crushing Textile Recycling Economics

Europe's textile recycling industry generates only €1.54 billion annually despite processing millions of tonnes of waste, highlighting systemic economic challenges. Industry experts reveal how data invisibility and traceability gaps create cascading costs that undermine commercial viability and prevent meaningful circularity at scale.