‘There is currently little push for the recycling of waste clothing’. So states a report entitled ‘Mapping of evidence on sustainable impacts that occur in the life cycles of clothing’ published by the UK government last December. On a slightly more positive note, it adds that ‘technologies are being developed that target the recycling and reuse of clothing. Currently most reuse of clothing is achieved by charity shops. The majority of clothing that is discarded is sent to landfill sites’. Well, perhaps that’s not particularly positive, but at least it shows that this issue is ‘on the radar’.
According to the above research, textiles make up approximately 3% of the domestic waste stream in the UK. And, as more clothing is purchased worldwide as a result of ever-cheaper prices and an increasing population, you have to wonder if the issue of textile recycling is in danger of being overlooked?
In the UK, as part of its work on Sustainable Consumption and Production, the government is developing ten product ‘road maps’ to reduce the environmental and social impacts of a range of priority products across their entire life cycles. Clothing is one of these products.
A decree promoting used textiles recycling is being developed in France. According to the April issue of BIR’s (Bureau of International Recycling) newsletter: ‘The French authorities have recently indicated that the regulatory texts have been accepted by the French State Council (Conseil d’Etat) and hence proposed for signature before further publication in the official journal.’
And textiles were one of several waste streams identified in the recent vote by the European Parliament’s Environment Committee on the revised Waste Framework Directive, wherein the Committee pushed for separate collection of different waste streams. The discussions also yielded recycling targets, which stipulate that EU Member States will have to achieve recycling rates of 50% for household and similar wastes by 2020, and 70% recycling rates for construction and demolition waste by the same date. It is possible that targets will also be set for manufacturing and industrial waste. (For more on this vote, see the news story on page 9.)
The examples above suggest that some action is taking place in the political arena. We can only hope that this will continue, and that, in parallel, investment will continue within industry for specialist technologies that process textiles.
The next issue of WMW is our annual review and directory issue featuring overviews of and insights into the current state of the waste sector. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy our current issue, particularly the collection and transport special.
Guy Robinson
Editor, Waste Management World
