Morocco: Pilots prove case for textiles recycling
As part of the EU-funded SwitchMed/MED TEST III project, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is testing capacity for reusing pre-consumer textile waste in Morocco and will present pilot projects at “Maroc in Mode” on March 31.
The pilots demonstrate the business case for local manufacturing of yarns with recycled content and the investment opportunities in textile waste recycling technology.
Roberta De Palma, chief technical advisor at UNIDO, said: “Reusing textile waste is a strategy that makes a lot of business sense. Prioritising a recycling strategy could help businesses secure their resource supply, improve their strategic position in the global supply chain, and retain the value of a resource in Morocco.”
Morocco’s textile and clothing industry generates 82,000 tons of pre-consumer textile waste annually, according to SwitchMed organisers.
SwitchMed launched in 2019 with a focus on the textile supply chains of Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. Working with international brands and key organisations, the partners aim to develop circular value chains for post-industrial and pre-consumer textile waste and move the textile industries towards adopting safer chemical protocols.
New collection, sorting and recycling facilities are being set up and new capacities for safer chemical management practices are being implemented with input from the ZDHC Foundation.
