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VIEWPOINT Sizing Up Textile Waste Handling
“Waste is a design flaw, the ability to create circularity of all materials eliminates waste and builds a sustainable world.” – Kate Krebs, Director, External Affairs at Closed Loop Partners ore and more internal and external demands are being made on the textile industry supply chain, calling for change to end waste. It is a topic of every textile conference that I have attended over the last few years, as experts explore viable ideas and applications to tackle problems. In this issue, we asked a variety of experts to weigh in on the subject, and we believe we’ve gathered an interesting collection of perspectives. There is no end to opinion on this topic, but our thought leaders reveal headway being made.
In “The Recycling Loop” on page 22, Adrian Wilson looks at the implications of the introduction of a new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, where “no longer allowed to be either land filled or incinerated, over seven million tons of waste textiles will have to be separately collected each year within the EU and will be paid for by the brands.” Whether mechanical or chemical, recycling is the new buzz to bring second-use applications to as many waste materials as possible. Is it achieveable? It is too early to tell, but major companies are giving it a go.
Continuing a look at options on page 26, Mireia Fernández, Leader of the Chemical Recycling Department at AIMPLAS, reviews options in mechanical and chemical recycling. Recycling technologies are highly complex, and she believes their ultimate effectiveness will take a collaboration of research and development, more in-depth understanding of the specific challenges of industry, and defining actions by the European Union in order to promote feasible and sustainable business models.
On page 32, in “It Is Not Easy Being Green,” Svenja Fromm, of Indorama Ventures Fibers Germany, believes “advanced recycling has a very big advantage over mechanical recycling as it allows modi- fications, like a flame retardant one, at polycondensation level. This type of modification is the most sturdy and sustainable one, i.e., modifications do not leach out or off gas into the environment.” She says, “Circularity and the advanced recycling of products wherever possible will allow for the reduction of virgin material usage, no matter which raw material base.”
On page 34, Geoff Fisher explains the complications of elastane in recycling. He says, “Many of the yarns and fabrics used to manufacture clothing are easily recyclable when in 100% form, such as pure cotton, polyester or polyamide, but the introduction of elastane in materials, even if only in small quantities, makes recycling using conventional methods difficult, if not impossible.”
On page 37, Daniel Aeschbacher, of the epeaswitzerland team, advocate for companies to define circular and sustainable pathways into the design process. ‘Transformation by Circular Design Process’ is a tool and methodology positioned at the very beginning of any business design strategy. Its purpose is to define and build a long-term future vision through education and knowledge building and creative networking by sharing pluralistic perspectives. This exercise will reveal systems dependencies and missing links in the product system.
Ultimately, even with the overwhelming number of options and varying opinions, the good news is that each industry development will bring us one step closer to achieve what most of us really desire, a better planet for our children, without needless textile waste.
