Online tool will tell recyclers where the textile waste is
Innovation platform Fashion For Good has launched a new online tool to map global textile waste hotspots.
It developed the new tool, World of Waste, with funding from Laudes Foundation and sustainable trade initiative IDH, partnering with four organisations (Reverse Resources, Global Fashion Agenda, Circle Economy and Accelerating Circularity) to put together the necessary data.
The idea behind World of Waste is to enable recyclers and innovators to track the volume and composition of textile waste in hotspots around the world and, through this, identify textile waste resources that they can use.
“Waste reflects a burden on resources, inefficient processes, and unmanaged emissions, highlighting the need for action,” Fashion For Good said. “However, information on textile waste is currently fragmented, with data scattered across a multitude of organisations and platforms. This lack of centralised knowledge and standardised data hampers the industry’s ability to address and capitalise on textile waste.”
At the time of the launch, World of Waste had estimated data for the volume and type of textile waste potentially available in the US, Germany, Spain, Morocco, the UK, Egypt, India, Bangladesh and Belgium. Data from other countries will become available in 2025.
To take India as an example, the World of Waste website estimates 3.9 million tonnes of post-consumer textile waste, 3.2 million tonnes of post-industrial textile waste and 584,000 tonnes of imported textile waste per year. It breaks this volume down by fibre, with cotton dominating in each category.
