Limited demand for wipers
One of the biggest end market for recycled textile products is wipers which are used for instance in the car
industry as polishing cloths. The environmental benefits of this recycling channel arise from the avoided
production of virgin materials such as cotton cloths which are replaced by the used textile. This type of recycling
is more valuable from an environmental point of view than conversion to filling materials since in the latter case
used textile replaces, for instance, kraft paper which generates fewer environmental impacts than cotton cloths
during production.
However, if recycling was to be developed on a larger scale there is a risk that the demand for wipers made from
used clothing would not be high enough. It would therefore be interesting to develop other applications for
recycling; e.g. insulation materials. Furthermore, such wipers are low quality products with a very limited
economic value therefore it could be more attractive to recover energy from them by incineration. The extent of
the environmental benefits of recycling is also highly dependent on the type of alternative materials avoided.
The quality issue
A key aspect in the textile reuse and recycling business is the quality of the collected clothes since it determines
the route followed, i.e. reuse, recycling or disposal. The ‘fast fashion’ trend that encourages consumers to buy
more clothes but of lower quality is leading to a fall in the quality of clothes collected. The second-hand clothing
business is also suffering from the competition with cheap Asian clothing since second-hand cloths no longer
represent a real economic advantage. It is thus of key importance to act on the donors’ side to ensure the
collection of good quality items valuable on the reuse and recycling market.
Governmental support
An encouraging sign for the development of textile reuse and recycling in the UK is that the Government has
already launched various initiatives. Promoting textile recovery has been identified by the UK Government as an
area of intervention for waste reduction as well as GHG emissions reduction. As part of Sustainable Consumption
and Production (SCP), ten product roadmaps are being developed to reduce the environmental and social impacts
across the life cycle of a range of priority products and clothing is one of these products (DEFRA, 2009 (e)). A
revised Action Plan for the Sustainable Clothing Roadmap was thus launched in September 2009 in order to
improve the sustainability performance of clothing and maximising reuse and recycling is one action area that has
been identified.
Several projects are supported by the Government. These projects aim at:
Encouraging the development of closed loop remanufacturing of clothing
Promoting the donation of unwanted clothing and textiles for reuse to charity shops via media
releases and other promotional activity to influence consumer behaviour
Encouraging take back processes from textile retailers
(DEFRA, 2009 (e))