Recycling news and archive

Tackling textile waste is a growing environmental challenge

The surge in textile waste across the United States, driven in part by the rapid expansion of the "fast fashion" industry, has emerged as a significant environmental issue over the past two decades. From discarded clothing to household items such as carpets, towels, and footwear, the proliferation of textile waste contributes to greenhouse gas...

Business

New report suggests 33 sustainable targets for a just fashion system

Industry watchdog Public Eye proposes 33 concrete targets for a just fashion system in its new report “One-Earth Fashion”. It highlights the fact that while the Earth is facing a climate emergency, the fashion system is simply adding fuel to the fire. “This leaves us in a situation where small, positive steps – for example, reducing plastics in...

Business

Hugo Boss launches independent recycling company

German fashion company Hugo Boss has launched an independent company called Eightyards to focus on recycling and reusing surplus materials from the group’s fashion brands. In a statement, Hugo Boss said that Eightyards has been developed to be “strategically aligned with Hugo Boss's comprehensive commitment to environmentally and...

Business

Recover to open new factory in Vietnam to further global recycling capabilities

Global producer of recycled cotton fiber Recover is set to open a new manufacturing facility in Vietnam as part of its expansion strategy. Set to be fully operational by early 2025, the new facility sees Recover bring its large-scale recycling technology to Vietnam and leverage the production of more sustainable materials within the local...

Fashion |In Pictures

In Pictures: Burberry unveils childrenswear collection made of surplus fabrics

British heritage brand Burberry has unveiled a new childrenswear capsule made from surplus fabrics and yarns from prior collections. The ‘Remake’ line intends to build on the label’s efforts to incorporate more circular practices into its offering, initiatives for which have already been infused into a number of its existing products for adults....

Business|CEO Interview Featured

Reju CEO Patrik Frisk: 'There is very little that you can’t reuse'

“I’ve spent decades working for brands (Under Armour, The North Face, Timberland, Jansport, Smartwool, Reef, Peak Performance, Gore-Tex, Vans) that make clothes that people love. Yet, too many of these garments have ended up in landfills or incinerated. And increasing global consumption and fast fashion are only accelerating this problem,” says...

The future of fashion: is less more?

A confession. My original research question was, “What if the fashion industry simply made less clothes?” (Over)production, reducing speed and seasons could be the answer to almost everything?!, was my thought process. As in: for sustainability in the clothing sector and more broadly: in the pursuit of a circular economy (see text frame below)....

Business

Goodwill and Reju to collaborate with WM on multi-year textile recycling initiative

A new collaboration aims to develop a model for regional textile collection, sortation, reuse and recycling that intends to divert non-wearable textile materials from the waste stream across the North American continent. Non-profit organisation Goodwill and materials regeneration company Reju have partnered with WM, an environmental solutions...

Fashion

On, Patagonia, Puma, PVH, Salomon test Carbios' fibre-to-fibre recycling technology

Just over two years ago, in July 2022, the four textile and footwear brands On, Patagonia, Puma and Salomon announced that they had joined forces with French biochemical company Carbios to utilise its unique biorecycling technology for synthetic fibre recycling and to improve the recyclability and ongoing reusability of their products. This...

Fashion

Italian luxury brand Slowear joins Italy's B Corp ranks

The luxury fashion industry's gradual embrace of sustainable business practices has gained momentum with Slowear's B Corp certification, marking a notable shift in how premium apparel brands approach environmental and social governance. The Italian company's four-year journey to certification crystallizes a fundamental tension in contemporary...

Fashion

India's green fashion lovers switch to secondhand

India's enormous garment sector churns out billions of dollars' worth of new clothes each year, but some local fashion lovers are switching to secondhand to assuage worries about the industry's environmental impact. It is a tiny drop in a massive ocean, but hipster shoppers in the capital New Delhi say their example is slowly shifting the...

Business

‘A circular economy for the textile industry offers opportunities, but also needs action’

A recent report looks at the chances and challenges of a circular textile industry in the Netherlands, thus providing interesting input for other countries as well. The report titled ‘Towards a Dutch Circular Textile Industry’ was published by Invest-NL, an investment company that finances sustainable and innovative projects. While a circular...