Postconsumer Textile Waste

To succeed with the EU’s textiles strategy, a systemic shift in the textiles system is needed, moving towards higher quality, longer use, reuse, repair and recycling. The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) new module of the Circularity Metrics Lab (CML) on textiles analysed 14 metrics and came up with some key findings.

A first of its kind study has analysed what happens to clothes and other textiles after consumers no longer want them in Amsterdam, Austin, Berlin, Geneva, Luxembourg, Manchester, Melbourne, Oslo and Toronto.

By taking decisive action at the local level, cities can lead the way in reducing textile waste, promoting circular economy principles, and fostering a culture of responsible consumption that aligns with our planet's ecological limits, according to a new report that says that cities across Europe are proactively addressing the issue and promoting sufficiency.

Researchers at the University of Delaware may have found a fix for textile waste by recycling multifibre textiles, additives, or colourants wherein the recovered components could be integrated directly into the textile and clothing manufacturing value chain for textile-to-textile recycling.