Textile recycling a step we have to take

By Peter Roberts

We all can see with our own eyes how the climate is changing for the worse, with exactly the unpredictability, the extra severity and the damaging consequences climate scientists have been predicting for decades.

Fortunately manufacturers are responding, including in the, well it can only be described as criminal, waste of resources that occurs in an advanced consumer society like Australia that is addicted to using once, then discarding valuable materials to landfill.

CEO of Textile Recyclers Australia Ben Kaminsky took to social media to highlight the problem, with a photograph of a mountain of burning textiles – perfectly good material simply going to waste.

Kaminsky said: “Uniform waste is a growing concern today, and it’s unfortunate that most uniforms end up in landfills or are burned.

“Don’t be surprised. This practice not only contributes to the ever-growing waste problem but also seriously harms the environment. The release of toxic chemicals and greenhouse gases from landfills and burning is detrimental to our planet and the health of its inhabitants.”

Here Kerryn Caulfield, executive director, Composites Australia chimed in: “A few years ago I attempted to calculate the volume of uniforms used by Australian listed companies.

“Unsurprisingly it was tens of millions of units that were churned annually, the bulk of which were imported synthetics.

“Though all the gratuitous public ESG (environment, social and governance) statements of the same companies that I researched were silent on end of life uniforms.”

That takes us back to burning, then putting the resulting waste somewhere far away from sight and far from mind.

But Kaminsky’s Textile Recyclers offers sustainable alternatives that divert uniforms from landfills and burning.

He said: “Our mission is to keep as much textile and apparel waste out of landfills as possible and turn them into new materials.

“By working with forward-thinking organisations, we can make a positive impact on the environment and reduce the negative effects of uniform waste.”

Textile Recyclers provides recycling solutions for fashion, uniforms and other textiles whilst creating ‘closed loop’ programmes ‘one garment at a time’

Kaminsky said: “Unfortunately the textile industry is still the second largest polluting sector in the world.

“However, many who work within it are collaborating in research and innovation that can remove this mantle from our industry and offer channels for waste to become a resource.

“The use of recycled fibres is the key to change.”

Picture: Textile Recyclers Australia/textile processing for recycling