3.2.6
Dealers/ exporters of reusable textiles and textile waste for recycling
Once the textiles have been collected by the charity organisations or private collectors, these can potentially be sold to a large number of buyers in the market for second hand textiles in the European and global markets. Dantextil is the only Danish organisation that receives used textiles from the collecting organisations. These tend to be textiles that the other organisations can’t, or aren’t interested in selling on: Mostly textiles fit for recycling. Dantextil receives around 5–6,000 tonnes per year from the collecting organisations and exports them for recycling with their European partners. Dantextil is partner in a larger European concern which includes amongst others German Comfort Trading and Hotex. The group collects more than 100,000 tonnes of used textiles per year in Europe. From time to time Dantextil also carries out sorting for other organisations. Dantextil claims to have a significantly lower rate of textiles which aren’t reused or recycled than the organisations do, since they have better knowledge of the European market. Some of the larger international operators which Danish organisations work with are the German SOEX Group (which also owns I:CO) and Belgian Rimatex. These international operators also collect used textiles from professional laundries and thus take up most of the textiles waste from the public sector (Kuhnt 2013). According to the Danish EPA (forthcoming) this amount is estimated to be around 2,600 tonnes annually but the number is uncertain as it is based on adjusted data from the UK. The international textile operators buy and collect used textiles from charities and other large collectors and then sort the textiles in central sorting plants located all over Europe. From these central sorting plants textiles are either sent for reuse in countries around the world or recycling (either in-house or at external facilities) or sent for waste treatment like incineration or landfilling. Recycling most often comprises downcycling i.e. the material is used in creating e.g. upholstery, industrial rags or insulation and not included in new textile products.
3.2.7
Commercial sellers and citizen-to-citizen exchanges
In Denmark there is a large and flourishing market in used textiles for reuse. In many parts of the country, especially the larger cities, it has become mainstream to buy second-hand and vintage clothes, shoes and accessories. In addition to the around 1,030 shops run by charities (see Table 1) it is estimated that there are many commercially operating in-
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Towards a new Nordic textile commitment