In the past 10 years, new clothing sales in the UK have increased by 60 per cent, flooding our homes with two million tones of clothing and textiles every year. An estimated 1.1 million tones of that clothing ends up in the garbage and only 300,000 tons is recycled.
“From an environmental point of view, we need to be recycling more,” says Alan Wheeler of the Textile Recycling Association.
In addition, Wheeler says consumers need to start buying second-hand clothing and buying fewer, more durable clothes and wearing them longer. “There’s no straight answer,” he said.
One of the main barriers to recycling clothing is the high levels of synthetic materials in much of today’s clothing. Cotton, as well, is very expensive to recycle. Wool is the easiest textile to recycle and the least fashionable today.
Charity shops tend to sift through their donations and put the best on offer for sale in their shops, but with new clothes being offered for lower and lower prices, it’s hard to compete. Many, like Oxfam, sort clothes and sell on e-Bay. Oxfam also takes wedding gowns and fancy dresses in their mobile shop to festivals to try and drum up more business that way.
Another creative way to recycle clothes is to rework old fashions into new ones. Oxfam has a partnership with students at the London College of Fashion students. Cancer Research UK is able to unload some of their clothing donations on the ecofashion collective Revamp. Triad produces its own recycled clothing label Traidremade.
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