In addition to the fact that you may have this product delivered by post monthly or sometimes even weekly, you wear it day in, day out. With more than 114 million tons of waste per year, clothing / textiles can be labeled as an environmental polluter. We tell you why:
To date, only a fraction of the textile used in clothing is recycled. In addition to the use of 'cheap' fabrics such as nylon and polyester, this also has to do with the fact that a piece of clothing often consists of many different materials. Just think of accessories such as buttons, zippers and other embellishments. These, too, consist of different raw materials, making the recycling process quite complicated.
Of course there are brands that produce their clothing more and more consciously, but the demand for 'fast-fashion' clothing is very high and production has even doubled in 15 years. In addition, we also wear a piece of clothing much less: 30% less long to be precise. And what happens to clothing that is not recycled properly?
That's right, large amounts of microfibers consisting of plastic are leaked into the ocean. Clothing/Textiles are even responsible for 35% of microplastic pollution in the sea, endangering the ecosystem and animals in the sea and on land.
New measures
In other words, 'Houston, we've got a problem' and it's time for a change. Policy makers in the EU play an important role in this and have drawn up a plan to tackle this problem! From the beginning of 2025, every country that is a member of the EU will be obliged to recycle textiles properly. The infrastructure needs to be addressed for this, because as we wrote earlier, clothing/textiles consist of many different materials. This will be a challenge for many organizations, because how do you approach this and what rules apply? Which machines are suitable for this and how can this be done as cost-efficiently as possible?
The specialized team of Recycling Consultants Netherlands is happy to help you with this, because good preparation is half the work. We are proud of our client 'Zeeman', who supports the law 'Sustainable & International Business' and is preparing well for the future!
Is your organization ready for the future?