Recycling fibres and textiles could revolutionise sustainable fashion

Fashion’s up coming generation of sustainable fibres are pressing toward a circular and greener long term for one of the world’s most polluting industries.

Studies show the fashion industry is responsible for approximately ten percent of global emissions, a good reckoning that has fuelled start-ups to innovate a long overdue sector. From innovative biodegradable fabrics to eliminating polyester and circular textile recycling, more corporations and brands than previously are committed to change.

In 2017 The Textile Exchange, a worldwide non-profit organisation, challenged a number of the world’s biggest retailers and brands (and in addition polluters) to lessen their reliance on polyester. Firms incorporating Adidas, The Gap and H&M sought to lessen using virgin polyester within their selections by 20 percent by 2020. The prospective was reached just one single year later, laying the building blocks for more brands to find polyester alternatives.

Recycled polyester mostly originates from plastic bottles. In the US alone, 35 billion bottles are discarded each year. Plastic takes up to at least one 1,000 years to degrade in a landfill. One innovator to carefully turn plastic material into fibres is usually ECOsense, who’s fabric is made from 100 percent post-consumer plastic containers. The business says its solution dye procedure requires none of the normal water or harsh chemicals often within package dyeing with the outcome offering a natural, soft side and the durability, drapability and colourfastness of virgin polyester.

The downside to recyclable plastic containers is that doesn’t stop the consumption of plastic for the meals and beverage industry.

Images of discarded outfits and mountains of garment waste material have triggered the necessity for companies to repurpose clothing instead of mailing unsold garments to landfill. The circular market has inspired an array of startups for second hand sales, but textile-to-textile recycling must embrace suppliers, brands and makers to work together and resolve the surplus of waste.

Knowledge should be shared. A greener future is only possible if the fashion industry collectively works alongside one another and commits to change. This past year The Textile Exchange together with Gap Inc. launched the most well-liked Fiber Toolkit (PFT), a reference to be utilized by sourcing and design clubs to inform companies on getting together with their sustainability goals.  

Toolkits such as these should be an industry-wide resource and publicly available, providing corporations with consolidated, validated assistance and information. This specific toolkit includes a rigorous evaluation of raw material options building upon quantitative info inputs from the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s (SAC) Higg Materials Sustainability Index. It also incorporates various other holistic indicators to consider environmental factors, such as for example biodiversity and land-use transformation, and waste-elimination guidance for contributing to the circular economy. Human rights, labor concerns, and creature welfare within raw materials sourcing are likewise considered, to layer in extra nuance beyond environmental data. More than enough data to greatly help brands and retailers make smarter sourcing decisions.