Sustainable Textile Solutions through Recycling and Upcycling

Shafiun Nahar Elma
Industrial & Production Engineer
National Institute of Textile Engineering & Research (NITER), Bangladesh.
Email: [email protected]

The textile business needs to support eco-friendliness since it is the only way of trying to mitigate its adverse impacts. Indeed, there is a sustainable textile solution that increasingly is being advanced today because of the challenges created by increased waste, natural resource conservation, and general recycling and upcycling.

Textile Waste Management:
The textile industry alone generates around 92 million tons of hazardous waste, which for the most part is released into landfills. Countries such as India produce almost 800,000 kilotons of textile waste annually and contribute to about 8.5% of total textile waste. Only more than 60% of this refuse is recycled, and 41% is still in process while 17% goes into landfills.

The global garment reuse and recycling market is rising day by day. It can reach $ 92 billion by the end of  2024, driven by major exporters such as the United States, the European Union, and China. Importers include South Asian countries, African regions, and North America Due to environmental awareness, the buying of used and recycled clothing has gone up.

Clothes Recycling Process:
Recycling within the textile industry is one revolutionary means of converting disposable textiles into recyclable raw components that may be utilized to make new products. This would not only save natural resources but also cut down on waste and bring environmentally friendly sustainable textile solutions to various fast fashion-related problems.

Key Stages of the Recycling Process:
Fabrics from various sources are collected and sorted. Fabrics are sorted into different categories in light of their type, color, and condition for the goal of efficient recycling. Then, the textile is deconstructed into primary components. Further processing entails fiber processing, where the cleaning and sorting of fibers for eventual reuse is aided through advanced technology. Often these recycled fibers are mixed with new fibers to create high-quality fresh goods. Recycling is key to tackling environmental emergencies, especially those emanating from fast fashion.

Upcycling Concept:
Upcycling not only reduces waste in the textile industry but also inspires creativity toward sustainable textile solutions in fashion. More and more designers and brands resort to this approach to create and re-create exclusive, high-value apparel products.

The upcycling process follows some basic steps. First of all, select the unused pieces. It identifies clothes that can be changed into new items through minor changes or even restructuring. With these pieces, creative designers used numerous techniques like sewing, cross-stitching, and patchwork to give these a different direction throughout the process. It keeps the resistance and aesthetic look of the parts that have been recycled. This process will not disrupt the fabric. On the other hand, sometimes it will texture fresh and modern.

Results of Recycling and Upcycling Activities:
For instance, it is documented that about 34% of all textile waste is up-cycled into new end-products, while about 25% of all textile waste is recycled into value yarn production. These further show the benefits of both in realizing greater resource efficiency for the ready-made garments sector.

Companies like Zero Waste Daniel show that upcycling can successfully work in a process to create pieces of clothing, such as bags or dresses, out of leftover pieces of fabric. These practices curb waste generation and further develop a circular system through sustainable textile solutions in the industry.

Key Buyers:
Renowned brands like Patagonia, ThredUp, and Levi’s power the market with sustainability and a circular economy through sustainable textile solutions. This has seen developing countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Ethiopia capitalize on the trend and convert the textile wastes into upcycled valuable products contributing to both local economies and the global supply chain. As a global brand,Adidas is making a great example on the path to sustainability with its Made to Be Remadeidea, where the products have to be designed keeping their circular life cycle in mind. These goods have to be returned to the company after use. Immediately converted into new material and transformed into new one.

Law and Policies:
Many countries, especially European countries are passing more strict legislation related to textile waste, boosting the exports of up-cycled products. The “Green Deal” policy of the EU motivates the different circular economy acts, boosting demand for imported second-hand apparel and upcycled fabrics.

Sustainable Textile Solutions have a Focus on:

a) Reducing Waste: Give priority to the reuse of clothes and textile recycling so that the minimum amount of waste goes to landfill and causes minimum ecological loss.

b) Impact on the Conservation of Resources: Carbon emissions will be cut down as recycling will involve less usage of raw materials and energy consumption.

c) Transition towards Circular Economy: Integrate the idea of a circular economy in the sustainability of the fashion industry and extend the lifecycle of garments. By facilitating the export of lifted textiles from advanced countries to fast-industrializing countries like Bangladesh, the international compliance system encourages developing countries not only toward environmentally sustainable practices but also toward greater participation in global trade.

In other words, apparel reuse and recycling are scalable paths toward a more sustainable textile future that will have less environmental impact on the fashion business.

Sustainable textile solutions through recycling and upcycling have their own set of drawbacks and challenges.

d) Cost-Associated Factors: Upcycling, unlike traditional recycling, involves a lengthier process and can thus be costlier in production.

e) Perception of Upcycled Products: Generally people have this biased perception that an upcycled product is not as valuable and acceptable as a newly manufactured garment.

f) Supply Chain Issues: Renowned brands find it a very challenging process.

Future Directions:
There is huge potential in the future for innovative and collaborative sustainable textile solutions. Brands like Zara,H&M,forever 21, etc. need to embrace circular economy ideas, which means including the uses of natural elements with sustainable design and adding recycling into their policy. Better methods of recycling will also enable more effective volumes of recovered materials and fast fashion impact.

Recycled fashion is a market that is gaining tremendous importance nowadays. According to ThredUp, revenue in 2023 states that the second-hand global market will reach $350 billion by the year 2027 at this growth rate. Even sometimes customers are influenced by social media platforms and follow trendy upcycling ideas.

Conclusion:
The ultimate goal of recycling and upcycling as sustainable textile solutions is to mitigate the adverse impacts of the fashion industry on the environment. The solutions are good in extending landfills and saving primary raw materials, hence making a step toward a better world. It is emphasized that as both consumers and manufacturers comprehend the environmental issues, there are possibilities for even more drastic innovations within this sector.

Given the benefits of these sustainable textile solution methods, it needs to be pointed out that their inclusion has to be encouraged in a fashion ecosystem where sustainability will be attributed equal importance to that of creativity. The journey to sustainability in textile consumption is still under construction, yet it can be achieved by creating a restorative economy that is beneficial for every single industry.

References:

1. https://www.globenewswire.com
2. https://markwideresearch.com/textile-waste-management-market/

You may also like:

1. Recycling and Sustainability in Textile: Present Situation, Challenges and Future
2. Sustainability Challenges in Fashion Industry
3. Why Recycling Clothes Is A Step Towards Sustainability
4. Important Reasons for Textile Recycling
5. A Fundamental Guide for Fruitful Textile Recycling Business
6. Textile Recycling and Uses of Recycled Denim
7. Recycling Process of Polyester and PET Bottles

Founder & Editor of Textile Learner. He is a Textile Consultant, Blogger & Entrepreneur. He is working as a textile consultant in several local and international companies. He is also a contributor of Wikipedia.

Share this Article!