Recycling

Europe’s textile sorting and recycling industry is under immense pressure with prices for second-hand textiles plummeting, while the costs of collection, sorting, and recycling have skyrocketed, EuRIC has warned.

The industry-led Circular Fashion Innovation Network (CFIN) has published an interim report which highlights key insights and next steps in the UK's journey towards a circular fashion ecosystem by 2032. It focuses on three critical areas: Circular Business Models, Sustainable Manufacturing, and Recycling Infrastructure.

The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel Limited (HKRITA) has developed a mechanical recycling method for denim fabrics that addresses the challenge of minimising fibre damage using existing mechanical recycling technologies.

The Global fashion Agenda (GFA) has launched ‘The Circular Fashion Partnership: Indonesia’ as a cross-sectoral initiative aimed at developing effective circular fashion systems by capturing and recycling post-industrial textile waste.

California has become the first US state to pass a textile Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) bill, which aims to hold producers accountable for the reuse and recycling of apparel and footwear sold in the state.

As global fibre production clocks a rise for the third consecutive year, by 6.89% over last year, the textile industry’s commitments to its climate goals could falter big time, the latest annual edition of the Materials Market Report from Textile Exchange has revealed.

H&M’s multipartner initiative Saamuhika Shakti has selected nine startups for its ‘Techtonic – Innovations for Circular Economy’ award which supports innovations that accelerate waste management in India, while increasing and improving the stability of waste picker incomes.

A recurring theme at the 63rd Global Fibre Congress at Dornbirn from 11–13 September was recycling and the associated circular economy. It stressed on the urgent need for everyone in the value chain, from machine manufacturers to manufacturing and retail, to find a common denominator—the only way to provide the consumer with products which are sustainable and affordable.

Researchers in Japan have developed a method for the depolymerisation of PET that can be applied to selective chemical recycling of both textile and plastic waste mixtures, offering a promising solution for achieving a circular economy.

Robots at a Danish company sort textile waste based on material composition and colour identification using near-infrared (NIR) sensors and cameras, a part of which is then converted into recycled fibres and yarns suitable for production of new garments.