Recycling

A plan to develop the UK’s first wetsuit recycling facility is among eight new projects funded by Future Fibres Network Plus. The neoprene recycling project is one of the eight mini projects newly funded by the network.

In October, a statement from the European Recycling Industries' Confederation (EuRIC) warning that the textile reuse and recycling sector in Europe was on the verge of collapse, had sent alarm bells ringing. EuRIC Secretary-General Julia Ettinger tells texfash why the situation is so grim.

Circle Economy has come up with the first-of-its-kind ‘Circularity Gap Report’ that examines how materials flow throughout the entire textile value chain, from design to post-consumer management. It explores how materials are extracted, transformed and managed at their end-of-life—from cotton farming and petrochemical production to spinning, weaving and dyeing to product assembly and distribution—and delves into the resource and energy inputs of each stage.

Technical textiles for construction sector can now use waste carpet material and other discarded textiles including clothing fabrics and firefighting uniforms to make concrete stronger. Field trials are on.

In a significant step ahead towards 100% textile circularity, French green innovation start-up, Carbios, and its five fibre-to-fibre consortium partners have come up with the world’s first enzymatically recycled polyester garment made from textile waste to spin out 100% biorecycled fibres.

Polyester, the most widely used fibre worldwide, and a key pollutant to boot, poses many systemic and tech challenges when it comes to sorting, pre-processing and recycling, says a new study by nonprofit Accelerating Circularity.

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.