But figures for the year are incomplete and are likely to be linked as well to a fall in retail sales of clothing.
The government-backed resources charity has published its Textiles Market Situation Report this morning, which outlines market developments for recovered textiles, trends in supply, demand and prices – and paints a relatively gloomy picture for the sector – pointing to a ‘rapid cooling’ in the market.
There are many caveats in the report because of the poor quality of data in the textiles recycling market with some of WRAP’s references dating back to 2010.
According to estimates contained within the report, based upon data from the Charity Retail Association and HMRC, collections of textiles reached a peak of close to 650,000 tonnes in 2014. However, this is likely to have fallen by around 4% to closer to 624,000 tonnes per year for 2015.
Reuse
WRAP claims that a ‘flattening’ in demand has occurred due to a reduction in trade with countries including the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine in Europe, as well as Kenya and Togo in the sub-Saharan African region where clothing is traded for reuse.
In Ukraine trade with the UK has been affected by political instability within the region. Traditionally much of the material sent to the country also goes onwards to Russia, which has also suffered an economic downturn, as well as heightened political tensions between the two nations.
Appreciation of the pound has made trade more difficult in countries such as Poland and Lithuania, the report claims, despite relatively favourable economic conditions in these two countries. Improving economic conditions in these countries could further limit the demand for used textiles, the report notes.
In sub-Saharan Africa, collections have largely grown in contrast to trade with parts of Europe, however, WRAP claims that this could be under threat due to ongoing uncertainty over a potential ban on imports of used clothing into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Kenya alone accounts for 6% of the demand for used textiles from the UK, and any potential ban is likely to have an impact on the market.
“Political and economic pressures are being put on existing markets and this report shows that resultant UK collections actually decreased slightly in 2015. Yet consumption of new clothing is continuing to rise, with clothing prices still generally much lower than they used to be.”
Alan Wheeler
Director, Textile Recycling Association
The report notes “The market has been cooling off rapidly. This is reducing the incentive for recyclers and exporters to collect used textiles for reuse and recycling, which risks increasing the proportion sent to landfill and incineration wasting environmental and economic benefit opportunities.”
Domestically the amount sold for reuse is thought to have totalled 186,800 tonnes in 2015, down from 213,700 tonnes one year earlier.
Recycling
On the recycling side the picture is not much brighter with WRAP noting that a lack of ‘robust end markets’ for recycling also contributing to a drop in demand. End markets for material produced from processing of textiles include automotive felt, wipers, flocking and fibre-to-fibre manufacturing. However, the report notes that a number of these markets are experiencing difficult conditions, and it claims that there is little prospect in a growth in demand for material in some markets.
It adds: “Industry insiders report that, as the prices and demand for reuse grades are falling, there is less incentive for some reprocessors to increase their collection schemes and some may be withdrawing collection services or restricting the grades they are prepared to collect.”
Commenting on the findings of the report, Alan Wheeler, director at Textile Recyclers Association, said: “We are delighted that WRAP has produced this important market report in a timely manner. The used clothing industry is going through an extremely difficult period both here in the UK and globally. Political and economic pressures are being put on existing markets and this report shows that resultant UK collections actually decreased slightly in 2015. Yet consumption of new clothing is continuing to rise, with clothing prices still generally much lower than they used to be.
“Continuing downward pressure on prices for used clothing is inevitable for some time to come. The UK needs to take a longer more strategic view on how to develop new markets which need to be less reliant on used clothing exports and consideration of how to finance these developments needs to be given a high priority.”
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