T e x t i l e I n d u s t r y N e w s o n r e u s e , r e c y c l i n g a n d c i r c u l a r i t y
THE POLITICS OF TEXTILE WASTE
For years, environmental organisations have campaigned against international second-hand clothing exports, portraying them as large-scale waste dumping. But the evidence has not kept pace with the claims.
This summer more than 70 organisations backed demands for far-reaching international restrictions.
A Reuse News investigation examines how these campaigns could undermine one of the world's largest functioning circular systems – and potentially worsen the very environmental problems they seek to solve.
For years, environmental organisations have campaigned against international second-hand clothing exports, portraying them as large-scale waste dumping. But the evidence has not kept pace with the claims.
This summer more than 70 organisations backed demands for far-reaching international restrictions.
A Reuse News investigation examines how these campaigns could undermine one of the world's largest functioning circular systems – and potentially worsen the very environmental problems they seek to solve.
Claims that poorer countries receive large quantities of unusable clothing have become a central argument in the secondhand export debate. But how well has the problem been measured?
EU rules could change how second-hand clothes are traded and reused worldwide. Part of the justification is that unusable waste is being exported as reusable clothing. Asked to substantiate the scale, the European Commission provided no robust estimate.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Circulose resumes production at Swedish recycling plant
November 10
UK used-textile prices fall further as sorting market weakens
November 2
UK export controls create new barriers for textile recyclers
October 9
Waste or reuse moves to the next stage
September 30
Swedish textile recycler Circulose has restarted production at its Ortviken facility after nearly two years of shutdown, according to Apparel Insider. The restart marks the implementation of plans announced earlier this year.
Indicative prices for used textiles delivered to UK sorting plants fell to £100–£160 a tonne in October, from £100–£180 in September, according to letsrecycle’s price index. Its market report describes pressure from poorer clothing quality, among other factors.
British Environment Agency new documentation requirements are preventing overseas recycling facilities from being approved. The Textile Recycling Association warns that some required documents do not exist in the destination countries.
Governments and observers are being asked to comment on options for how the Basel Convention should address used textiles and textile waste. The deadline is 30 November.
Source: Apparel Insider
Source: Letsrecycle
Source: Recycling International
Source: Basel Convention
NEWS & ANALYSIS
TRADE & EVIDENCE
A new Nordic study recommends reducing exports of lower-grade textiles to developing countries. But researchers could not establish what ultimately happened to many tracked garments. The Textile Recycling Association warns that the recommendations could undermine legitimate reuse and recycling markets.
November 5 - Updated
SECOND-HAND CRISIS
Clothing collection containers are disappearing from streets in Germany and Belgium as Europe's secondhand crisis deepens.
Rising costs, falling revenues and mounting pressure on collection organisations are now affecting local communities.
November 9
RECYCLING CHALLENGES
Textile recycling needs more than technology. Limited capacity and uncertain financing hold back expansion.
November 2
THE TEXTILE WASTE INVESTIGATION
The global second-hand trade is not a charity system. It is a business built on buying, sorting, shipping and reselling products across continents. Every bale imported into Ghana has already passed through collectors, sorters, exporters, shipping companies, customs, wholesalers and traders. At every stage, somebody pays.
Mountains textile waste. That image has travelled the world — repeated, amplified and turned into a defining narrative about textile waste in Africa. But when we went there, the picture changed completely. What had been described as textile waste was mostly something else.
Former Swedish Minister for the Environment:
If the wrong conclusions are drawn, we will be in trouble
Related to the Basel Convention former Swedish Minister for the Environment Karolina Skog warns against drawing the wrong conclusion from an incomplete picture of the second-hand trade. If policy treats second-hand trade as waste export without solid evidence, it may damage one of the few circular textile systems already working at scale.
EXPLORE
The bigger picture behind textile circularity
From production and consumption to reuse and disposal, Reuse News examines how textiles affect people, the climate and the environment — and scrutinises the claims, policies and practices shaping their future. Explore our selected reporting.
What does the evidence tell us about second-hand clothing exports and textile waste?
How changing policies affect reuse, trade and the transition to a circular economy.
Following the journey from collection and sorting to resale, recycling and disposal.
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