It is widely assumed that systems are in place to recycle all of the goods that enter our lives.
Whether it be glass, aluminum, or textiles, we think that if we sort it into the right bin, then it can be recycled. Unfortunately, it's not that simple.
What's happening?
Despite the rise in interest in sustainable fashion and secondhand shopping, textile waste centers are seeing a rise in garments arriving at their facilities.
SWD Clothing in Bolton, England, said it sorted 15,500 tonnes (around 17,085 tons) of clothes in 2024, per the BBC. It was estimated to be around 60 million items, which mostly came from local textile bins and charity shops.
Although it sounds like those items made it to the right place, Peter Page, the head of recycling and sustainability at SWD, observed that more and more clothes cannot be processed properly.
"It's very difficult because clothing is not designed to be recycled," he told the BBC. "It's designed to be bought, to be worn, and then to be thrown away."
While that number is already high, it's becoming more of an issue because of the rise of fast fashion. Companies that churn out the latest styles for low prices almost always make low-quality clothes with synthetic materials that cannot be recycled.
Why is the rise of fast fashion important?
Fast fashion's goal is to respond to trends instead of creating the trends. When something goes viral on social media or on the runways, fast fashion aims to have something available to purchase in two weeks or less.
To make the production cycle that short means there are a lot of sacrifices made with fair wages, natural resources, and textiles.
While it takes an exorbitant amount of resources to create recyclable textiles — such as 700 gallons of water to produce one cotton shirt or 2,000 gallons to produce a pair of jeans — synthetic textiles also use plenty of resources in production and cause damage to the planet during wear and after they are discarded.
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Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to recycle old clothes and electronics?
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Giving me money back 💰 For example, synthetic textiles are ending up in our waterways after washing cycles, contributing to 35% of all microplastics in our oceans, according to a 2017 report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature that was shared by Earth.org.
What's being done about the rise of fast fashion?
Page told the BBC that SWD is trying to get more creative with its excess clothing. It has shipped off garments for use as carpet underlay, noise insulation, or even wiping cloths for the auto industry.
Consumers can also start to educate themselves more about their clothing. For instance, if an item says "recycled polyester," it is likely made from plastic bottles, not previous polyester items.
If you need to buy a new or secondhand item, it is also advised to choose natural fibers whenever possible, such as silk, cotton, linen, and hemp, so that the item is likely to last longer and be recycled properly.
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