These are exciting times in the textile recycling industry. Successive government initiatives (Defra’s Clothing Roadmap, WRAP and SCAP) have gradually convinced the public that textiles are a resource.
The public are responding to calls to recycle or reuse their unwanted clothes, shoes and household textiles in greater numbers than ever. The message that textiles have significant negative carbon impact on the environment is getting through. Only aluminium has a higher carbon impact.
However, to build on this success, we need to educate the public further and in a more sophisticated way. We also need the government to step up and provide financial support to the industry to cope with this influx of material. The challenge we now face is to re-establish mature markets for low grade, low value material that is now coming through the system.
Volume and quality are both critical issues in the industry. The increase in volume has been coupled with a high increase in lower quality items being put in textile banks or charity donations. This is because a high proportion of the extra items being recycled fall into the category of household. These items have traditionally been low value in the sector. There is also still a problem of contaminated or wet material coming through which has little or no value in that state. To recover the value it needs to be pre or post sorted washed and dried and that is very expensive to do.
Contamination
Nobody wants contaminants and household textiles to end up in landfill, least of all recyclers. The industry has been very efficient at reusing all the materials that come through its sorting systems. Most recyclers produce less than 5% waste from their overall output.
As the manufacturing base in the UK has shrunk, so has the market for recyclables (wipers, flock etc). The industry has considerable experience sorting and grading clothing for domestic and export markets abroad, producing hundreds of different grades. We provide a critical outlet for well over half a million tonnes of clothing, shoes and textiles recycled every year by the British public.
WRAP commissioned studies have shown that over a quarter of a million textiles still sit in the national wardrobe. These materials are reuse items desperately needed by the industry. Good quality reusable items (clothing and shoes) are constantly needed and clothing specification criteria already exist to assist charity shops, local authorities and waste management companies in deciding what is acceptable. The clothing and shoes must be clean, dry and free from contamination. They must be easy and convenient to recycle.
The textile recycling industry provides tens of thousands local Uk jobs, as well as diverting resources from landfill and fundraising for charities. We need to further encourage the public to donate unwanted clothing and shoes that can be reused. These materials now set the market price for raw material and the outlets are well established.
We need to see action in three areas:
- Government investment into innovation for low grade recyclable and upcycled products;
- Development of efficient, smooth and cost effective processes for washing and drying contaminated products;
- Development of sophisticated market exchange information systems to facilitate the sale and movement of wipers, used clothing and shoes in the domestic UK market.
If we want to create a circular economy, we need economically viable markets for the whole textile waste stream. This requires investment and support to a vital part of the UK economy, a part of the economy that has the capacity to grow and create sustainable jobs. We cannot do this on our own.
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