One of the main challenges is technology related. Manual sorting is still the preferred method when it comes to textile collection. This is because the reuse market is the main client of textile sorters. This means the facilities need to visually identify and evaluate the clothing suitable for reuse.
To enable and enhance fiber-to-fiber recycling in the industry, manual sorting is not the best suited method. Most recyclers have input requirements in terms of composition, sizing, color, contaminants, and disruptors, which is sometimes difficult to identify through manual sorting, and is highly time-consuming. The implementation of Near Infrared Technology (NIR) would help automate sorting. But better technology and innovation is costly: the industry needs investment to adapt to new regulations and maximize the textile sorting opportunity.
The second challenge is design related. For mechanical recycling of cotton to be successful, our feedstock needs to be mono-fiber or cotton-rich, to avoid “contaminants” such as metallic yarns, wrap knitted, coatings, large rubber trims, foil-based prints and embroideries. To face this, Recover participates in educating young creators to “Design for Circularity” and take into account the recycling challenges when creating products.
The third challenge is volume and cost related. The Sorting for Circularity report (2022) found out that for most of the six focus countries, the volume of textile waste collected per year surpassed the sorting capacity. Most of the time collected textiles are sorted abroad for economic purposes.
To close the loop in fashion and textiles, the industry needs to come together and overcome these challenges and find suitable and scalable solutions.