A Trip to the Textile Recycling Plant The Textile Recycling Chain
The falling price of clothing, and increasing
affluence is causing a significant increase in the volume of textile products
consumed in the UK. The secondary textile industry collects just 17% of all textiles consumed with the balance being
either stockpiled or discarded to the household waste stream.
The combined waste from
clothing and textiles arising per year in the UK is about 2.35 million tones,
which accounts for 0.7% of the total UK waste. 2.35 million tons of clothing
and textiles are equivalent to 40 kg per person per year, which means a staggering 30kg per person per year go
to landfill, where the textiles release methane emissions into the atmosphere and pollute
groundwater through toxic leachate amongst others.
Click on the links above to find out more about the textile re-use and recycling process and it´s social and environmental impacts.