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Textile Waste

All articles tagged with #textile waste

environment1 month ago•12 min saved

From Atacama's clothing dumps to building insulation: a small factory wrestles with a global textile spill

In Chile’s Atacama Desert, vast piles of unsold and secondhand clothing dumped from abroad persist because most fabrics are synthetic and non-biodegradable; only about 1% is recycled while fires and toxic smoke from dumps are common. A tiny Alto Hospicio factory, EcoFibra, turns shredded textile waste into insulation panels for affordable housing, recapturing value from waste, but the scale of imports and dumping far exceeds what the plant can process, underscoring the need for upstream changes in how disposal material is shipped and managed.

via spacedaily.com|

#atacama-desert #circular-economy #ecofibra

environment7 months ago•18 min saved

Donated clothes reveal a hidden waste crisis and a call to rethink consumption

Donating clothes may feel virtuous, but charities are overwhelmed, many garments are unsellable or shipped abroad, and global textile waste remains a problem. A Nature Cities study across nine wealthy cities shows oversupply and overconsumption driving tens of millions of tons of waste, worsened by fast-fashion. The piece advocates sufficiency—buying less and using what we own longer—plus city-led reforms for local collection, repair, and reuse, and urges individuals to slow consumption and support thrift stores and clothing swaps.

via Earth.com|

#circular-economy #clothing-donation #environment

sustainability3 years ago•7 min saved

"Fast fashion giants take action to reduce environmental impact and waste"

The fashion industry's waste problem is accelerating with the rise of fast fashion, and almost all clothing eventually ends up in a landfill. The industry contributes significant greenhouse gas emissions, and its carbon footprint is predicted to account for over 25% of the world's global carbon budget by 2050. Recycling old clothing into new clothing has barely made a dent in the industry, with less than 1% of textiles produced for clothing being recycled into new clothing. However, startups such as Evrnu, Renewcell, Spinnova, and SuperCircle are developing new business models to tackle the complexity of the fashion recycling problem. Major brands such as Levi's, Adidas, and Zara are also making progress in their attempts to fashion a circular economy.

via CNBC|

#circular-economy #fashion-industry #recycling