The European Environment Agency (EEA) has said that the market for textile waste in the region does not meet the criteria to be a well-functioning market, with a large chunk of it traded as secondary raw material for downcycling activities, and a minuscule volume recycled into new textiles for new products.

In an attempt to inform decisions to unlock necessary investments and actions to scale collection, sorting and recycling innovations in North America, Fashion for Good has launched its Sorting for Circularity USA Project.

Apparel Impact Institute (AII) has opened its first call for applications for the Climate Solutions Portfolio, a soon-to-launch registry of proven carbon reduction solutions for the fashion industry. 

The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) has developed a separation system to capture microplastic fibres in water by using acoustic manipulation techniques. In addition to treating wastewater generated from the textiles and apparel industries, the Acousweep can be applied to other industry sectors for microplastic collection. 

Demanding, multi-layered and complex material and colour trends for Spring.Summer 2024 as well as questions about efficiency and transparency through digitalisation and sustainability – these were the predominant topics of the international fabric and denim trade shows Munich Fabric Start and Bluezone. 

Brands can now use a new technology to upcycle pre- and post-consumer textile waste into beautiful colours, and create a new collection. This technology which upcycles textile waste into vibrant colours has been brought out by the specialty chemicals Swiss manufacturer Archroma.

The much-awaited Cotton Data Book 2022 just released by the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) incorporates a lot more information than the last edition. 

A comprehensive directory of textile recyclers from 27 countries has been released by nonprofit Accelerating Circularity in a bid to create new supply chains and business models to turn spent textiles into mainstream raw materials.

Researchers have come up with a solution that could to some extent resolve the issue of microplastic fibres that are shed when clothes made of synthetic fabrics are laundered, finally making their way into waterways impacting marine and human life.

The European Union has launched a social media campaign targetted at youngsters and influencers in a bid to weed out fast fashion. The multilingual campaign – ReSet The Trend – is meant to engage Europeans in the battle against fast fashion and raise public awareness about the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles.