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Demand up for textiles, but staffing concerns remain

Demand for second hand clothes is as “close to normal” as it’s been since the pandemic, textile recyclers have said, but issues around the quality of material and staffing persist.

Demand from international markets is strong in the run up to Christmas

Speaking to letsrecycle.com, textiles recyclers reported that as the surge in demand for used clothing globally has increased, the market appears to be recovering to near pre-pandemic levels.

This is being fuelled by increased demand for clothes in Eastern Europe and West Africa in the build up to Christmas. While this surge didn’t occur last year, thought to be because of Covid, there are signs of it happening in 2021, sparking hopes of a recovery.

Processing

However, this demand is being somewhat overshadowed by persistent concerns over the quality of material received, and a lack of workforce to process it.

Ongoing concerns over the quality of material coming through banks remain

A textile recycler based in Wolverhampton told letsrecycle.com that while the demand is strong, most of his time has been spent on trying to recruit and maintain staff.

Another based on the outskirts of London, explained that with people using eBay and other methods of selling good quality clothing to earn extra money, the material coming through clothing banks is “poor”, and getting worse.

For this reason, the recycler added that he is unable to get prices up past a certain threshold, currently between £50 and £100.

A sorting plant operator in the Midlands particularly noted the pressures around staffing, and the inability to sort enough material.

He added that with rising costs of shipping containers and the shortage of staff has made loading inconsistent.

TRA

Alan Wheeler, chief executive of the Textile Recyclers Association, explained that although the quality of textiles being collected in the UK is sometimes poor, this “should not have much effect” on the quality of used clothing being traded on the international markets.

Mr Wheeler is CEO of the TRA

He explained that the sorting process should separate the lower quality recycling grades and any waste, however staffing continue to make it difficult.

Mr Wheeler explained: “Shortages of drivers and warehousing staff are becoming a significant issue. Brexit means we are no longer able to take on workers from EU countries and many with settled status have decided to move back home. The Pandemic brought international trade ground to a halt straight away in March last year and as business is starting to return to normality it is only now that the Brexit chickens are coming home to roost.

“Out of touch government ministers insist that we should do more to entice UK workers to our sector, but the reality is that our economy has been built on a population that included EU citizens that no longer live here”.

Shipping costs

One of the major issues textile recyclers say is putting pressure on prices is the “exploding” costs in shipping, putting pressure on international exports.

This has led to some popular destinations for clothes, such as Kenya, almost closed to UK exports as it takes too long for clothes to arrive. Other countries in the Middle East have growing textile waste and have become more appealing to Eastern African countries due to shorter turnaround times for orders.

Recyclers have reported raising shipping costs

Tosh Vyas, founder of Bedford based textile recycler Fortune Eximports, outlined the pressures in detail.

He said: “Due to lockdown, work and limited functions or ceremonies, processors are not able to get the proper ratio and proportion of the items required to balance a container. Freight costs have almost doubled or in some instances have gone up by seven times, depending upon the destination, since March 2020.

“Since Brexit, European countries have been imposing tax, VAT and inspection of goods which is taking anything between three to five days to complete. Along with with additional costs on imports from the UK and a shortage of staff, especially drivers, the situation has made loading inconsistent and has a direct impact on cash flow.

“These increases in overheads and the pound getting stronger against some currencies and with the latest fuel crises, it is not helping the trade by any means. If cost of freight keeps increasing, this will bring a complete stop to the used clothing business in England. It’s just a case of working hand in hand with co-operation with suppliers and processors this year.”

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