Textiles. A priority material for recycling and circularity.
Why should textiles be considered a priority when it comes to national and state endeavours toward achieving a circular economy in Australia?
Update - October 2021 | Grant Funding for Textiles Innovation and Collaboration
Recently, the Victorian State Government opened up a new round of funding including a focus on Textiles, the priority material for 2021/2022 for advancing the circular economy in Australia under the Recycling Victoria Policy.
The update from Victoria’s Circular Economy Business Innovation Centre (CEBIC), shared that, “there is $750,000 available in funding to support collaborative projects that design out waste to improve environmental and economic outcomes for Victoria,” with one stream dedicated specifically to Textiles projects.
We know there are many fashion and textiles businesses locally that have been keenly/eagerly awaiting funding support such as this - a first of its kind in Australia - to advance their ambitions and ideas toward operationalising their transition to circular.
Like all areas of interest and passions for change, there are of course many folks across the sector, including practitioners, industry, academia and government actors who have been quietly working in this space for decades. It is time to enjoy this milestone announcement, despite the long road ahead.
CEBIC is seeking applications for projects that take action within the make phase or the use phase of the resource lifecycle in a circular economy. Read more about the opportunity and apply HERE.
But before you go! Take a look at our article below, Now+Future’s small contribution that was written for and submitted to the Victorian Government early in 2021 to further inform and encourage the prioritisation of Textiles in the roll out of Recycle Victoria and the pathway to a smarter, cleaner Victoria.
Summary
This article examines two key reasons why textiles should be considered a priority material in any major efforts toward circular economy development. The first is the high costs currently associated with processing the textiles waste stream locally, the majority of which goes straight to landfill. The second is the opportunity that exists to capture significant value and create employment from these wasted textile materials through the circular economy approach to development.
We then describe the changes that are happening in the textiles industry, globally and in Australia, to move towards a circular economy, demonstrating that our problems, in Australia, are not unique and that strategies in other areas are already demonstrating the value that can be created from strategic change.
The high cost of Australia’s textile waste
Directly, or as contaminant [1], textiles and the fashion industry are significant contributors to material waste levels in Australia. Although more data is needed to accurately measure and analyse the textile waste stream locally (including clarifying the material make-up of the waste mix), what is clear is that textile waste from households (247,000 tonnes [2]) is disposed of annually and ends up in landfill, incineration or exported for recycling. Additionally, the material recovery rate is one of the lowest at only 26% [3]. The problem is also getting bigger, with the overall material footprint of Australia rising by more than 30% between just 1990 and 2007 [4].
Australia’s more than $25 billion [5] dollar textile and fashion industry, made up of more than 90% imported products [6], generates an estimated 600million kg of household and non-household textile waste annually. Close to 100million kg [7] of this waste is being re-exported to developing nations, often becoming landfill, which leaves around 500million kg [8] of leather and textiles ending up in local landfill.
Opportunity to create value: Textiles and a circular economy
Textiles are well suited to circular economy systems. The materials that textiles are made from have high intrinsic value and are suitable for recycling into new products. Textiles are long lasting, durable materials that are designed for long-term use, and are therefore also well suited to the cascading steps of the circular economy; repair, reuse and re-manufacture. Textiles represent both biological (eg cotton and wool) and technical (eg polyester) material groups, connecting them to both agriculture and to materials innovation industries, such as plastics and construction, through material regeneration and recycling. In practice these two material groups are very often blended (eg polycotton fabric) which poses significant technical and systemic challenges to the development of the sustainable mass recycling of textiles. Solving this problem is an example of the innovation potential in this sector, and is one that has the potential to release significant value into the economy.
The intrinsic value of the materials that currently go to waste
For every $1 of material recovered from a textile through recycling an additional $50 to $100 can be potentially contributed to the economy by turning it into a new fashion product [9]. It follows that the total annual value of recoverable textile materials that are going to landfill around Australia of $500million [10] can contribute up to between $25billion and $50billion value through the full value chain of the fashion industry. Economic development and job creation has the potential to be achieved across all the stages; recycling, manufacturing, design, production, retail and product stewardship.
Recycling
Within Australia textile materials commercial recycling solutions are in their infancy, with research and development focused mainly on the separation of fibres (e.g. Blocktexx [11]). Circular recycling industry initiatives exist at scale in other sectors, such as electronic waste [12], demonstrating that through innovation and investment there are economically sustainable solutions to material waste.
Reuse and repair
Overseas, significant value creation has been achieved through new business models that focus on garment repair and reuse (Rent the Runway [13] and The Renewal Workshop [14]). It is estimated that the value of this segment in the US fashion market was US$28billion in 2019 and it is expected to grow to US$64billion by 2024 [15]. In Australia a growing number of companies, such as A.BCH, Arnsdorf and GlamCorner, have developed similar business models but they are still few in number and relatively small in scale. This is a part of the industry that has the potential for significant growth in the short to mid-term given the experience overseas.
Value adding to agriculture and the production of fibre
Australia is a major global producer and exporter of premium wool fibre, valued at $3.6billion [16] in 2016/17. Most of this is destined for luxury fashion products around the world. Very little value is added to this high value fibre before it leaves Australia, apart from some scouring and top making. By taking a circular economy approach to the processing of wool, coupled with the modern consumer’s desire for clarity around provenance, new opportunities will emerge to further process this fibre in Australia, such as an increase in top making, scouring, spinning, textile and garment manufacture. Value created by spinning a raw wool fibre into a commercial yarn has a value-add factor of approximately 3.5 times [17], increasing to a factor of 30 if the fibre is processed into a garment and then sold. This means that the annual wool clip from Australia, has a potential value of approximately $12.6billion if 100% of it was to be processed locally and sold as yarn, and $108billion if it were all converted locally to garments.
The current context: the textile industry is moving towards a circular economy
In the last decade both the global textile and fashion industry and its consumers have become more aware and engaged in a push toward more sustainable outcomes for its products. We also have the unique example of the world’s longest living culture on the lands of Australia through its First Peoples who have successfully used circular economy practices within communities for more than sixty thousand years.
Many companies already demonstrate a commitment and investment in this change and others a readiness to take action [18]. This industry-based momentum aligns with efforts to maximise the value and minimise waste across all stages of the life cycle of materials.
Until recently smaller independent fashion and apparel businesses have been leaders within Australia in the transition to a circular economy. These have included zero waste design and manufacturing techniques [19], regenerative farmed materials [20], recycling of technical materials, and systems for takeback, repair and reuse of textiles [21]. These smaller, innovative companies have also played an important role in educating consumers.
In more recent years, through pressure from environmental groups, media and consumers, the larger volume-driven fashion businesses have started to shift their focus to prioritise environmental outcomes. This is evident from the broader adoption and consideration of lower impact chemical and material inputs [22], as well as the increase in availability and uptake of sustainable accreditations and certifications [23] through their global supply chains.
Research undertaken in 2019 [24] showed that Australia’s major fashion brands and retailers, predominantly based in Victoria, are expressing concerns about textile waste volumes and the lack of current available solutions in the local market. The research also showed that a number of local brands have undertaken significant investment in this area, in; knowledge acquisition, relevant training for staff (ie. circular material selection), as well as a commitment to collaborative development through involvement in industry working groups across academic research and government policy teams.
Australian universities and research organisations are active across the full spectrum of the textile and fashion ecosystem and all aspects of the circular economy, and they have the local expertise to guide and support the implementation of policy. This includes the fields of; agriculture, material and fibre chemistry, all aspects of processing and finishing, textile engineering and manufacture, systems and product design, materials recycling, garment care and repair, re-manufacturing, and consumer behaviour regarding garment ownership.
What’s Needed?
Textiles provide an opportunity for a significant economic boost to Australia through a circular economy approach to their stewardship.
Prioritising textiles in the circular economy can be based on scientific and technological developments, the innovation of new business models, new advanced methods of textile manufacture and through creative ideas and new designs. This growth would be complemented by a reduction in economic and community costs that are currently associated with waste textile materials in Australia and globally.
To move forward, textiles should be;
A targeted material within the scope and strategies of government commitments and programs
Central to specific target setting and staged goals defining a pathway to change
Banned from international export, followed by the development of a roadmap to also ban textiles from landfill
The focus for investment in targeted data on national textile waste streams, technology development, recycling, manufacturing and business models in the emerging textile circular economy
Included in business and consumer education programs broadly
Footnotes
CSIRO 2020 National circular economy roadmap for plastics, glass, paper and tyres
Raworth, K 2018 Doughnut Economics
Clothing $16.5b, footwear $6b, fibre $6b, uniforms $1b, industrial textiles $1b+ (Ibis, Statista, AWI, Cotton Aus, market intelligence)
Market intelligence
Based on the conversion of a recycled PET fibre with market value A$1.60/kg (fibre2fashion) into a finished product that has retail value of $60 to $120 per kg (equivalent to a t-shirt that retails for $12 to $24(Kmart t-shirt Mar 2021).
Australia’s total amount of textile waste going to landfill is equal to 600 million kg of total textile waste less 100 million kg that is exported to developing nations, based on a base material value of $1/kg.
Based on wool fibre price of A$13/kg (EMI wk 39 2021), yarn price of $45/kg (Market) and simple pullover price of $129 per unit (Country Road wms Mar 2021).
Boulton, McCallion, & Curtis 2019 Coming full circle on fast fashion for a sustainable future
This paper was written for and submitted to the Victorian Government in 2021 to further inform and encourage the prioritisation of Textiles in the roll out of Recycle Victoria and the pathway to a smarter, cleaner Victoria.