Misconceptions Fueling Textile Waste Debate, Industry Leaders Say
The used textile market is hanging on by a thread.
To avoid negative outcomes, collaboration and innovation are critical to creating a circular economy throughout the international supply chain.
More from Sourcing Journal
This promotion of textile circularity was the central message of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR)’s first international textile recycling conference, held in Brussels on Sept. 17. President Susie Burrage OBE welcomed delegates by way of a pre-recorded video message calling on intervention to save the sector from collapse, as collective efforts to deliver proper sorting, reuse, recycling and repurposing were “vital” to achieving textile circularity in both developed and developing countries.
“The narrative around end-of-life or end-of-use textiles is becoming increasingly tangled,” she said to attendees via video. “Media headlines often paint a one-sided picture, leaving the public confused about the real story of used clothing.”
The conference kicked off with a session chaired by Alan Wheeler, chief executive officer of the UK-based Textile Recycling Association (TRA), who was met with a “defiant” African perspective from panelist Marlvin Owusu, an executive member of the Ghana Used Clothing Dealers Association (GUCDA).
“One of the biggest challenges we have is simply the misconception of secondhand clothing,” he said during the panel, which discussed the relatively polarizing practice of exporting used textiles to Sub-Saharan countries.
While the European Union law defines “waste” as discarded materials no longer intended for their original use, Owusu continued, the “Ghanaian view” was that it was clothing that could no longer be reused or repurposed. Further, a report released by GUCDA in May claimed that less than 5 percent of the secondhand clothing imported into the West African nation from offshore locales is waste within this definition. This figure is “far below the exaggerated figures that have been put on media outlets for a long time,” he said, suggesting data from the likes of The Or Foundation—which has previously stated 40 percent of clothing in Ghana’s Kantamanto Market ends up as waste—is “not to be trusted” as “there is no business model in the world that could support a waste level of 40 percent.”
Teresiah Wairimu, chair of the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya (MCAK), had similar sentiments, speaking of “unverified figures” for waste from “those with no understanding of the African market.” In Nairobi, she said, that percentage drops to 1.89 percent. As the representative for 2 million clothing industry employees (and another 20-plus million who depend on its success), Wairimu expressed frustrations with the supposed sensationalism.
“We are businesspeople, we import goods for sale and our government regulates and forbids waste,” she said. “In Kenya, we only import sorted clothes, and we are leading the way on building a circular economy through textile use…it is very insulting to hear we are importing waste.”
Wheeler—who has served as general delegate of the textiles division for BIR since 2013, according to LinkedIn—highlighted the importance of hearing the voices of the Global South.
In discussing the Owino market in Kampala, Uganda, Michelle Wilson, director of programs for WasteAid, referenced the UK-based charity’s extensive study investigating waste management in Uganda. The biggest source of waste, she said, is not from the hundreds of sellers at the market but from the dozens of machinists repurposing clothing within the market. While the final report is still underway, preliminary findings suggested waste levels of 1 percent.
Those unclear definitions of waste could be the culprit for such discrepancy between local figures and the Ghana-based nonprofit’s claims, Wilson suggested, using the local term “fagi” to describe textiles that might not sell because they’re undesirable.
“When we talk about waste, we think of something that is ruined but, in the markets, fagi might go round and round until something else happens to it,” she said. “The [actual] waste is quite low but there is lots of other materials that stay in circular for quite a long time.”
All three panelists agreed, per BIR, that the bigger challenge was for governments and businesses to improve the domestic waste management of all waste in their countries.
But Martin B?schen, president of BIR’s textile division and CEO of the Switzerland-based Texaid, was concerned about the consequences of tightening regulations on EU textile exports.
“Are we not then opening this [African] market to others such as China or other countries that are going to export their post-consumer textiles under much less regulation and then kill this industry in Europe?” he asked.
The state of Europe’s used textile trade was also flagged by Mariska Boer, president of EuRIC Textiles and co-owner of Boer Group.
“Our biggest challenge is finding a way to regain a competitive position on the global market for textile reuse,” Boer said. “It’s only through that we can continue to build a resilient and vibrant industry here in Europe.”
Touching on the steady decline in clothing quality over the last decade or so as more brands are peddling ultra-fast fashion, Boer acknowledged the ramifications that Shein hauls will have on the secondhand sector.
“If you get a lower quality in your sorting plant, you can’t possibly sort a higher quality out,” she said.
Other factors influencing the reuse trade—like labor costs, energy prices and the continuing war in Ukraine—Bower noted that the proposed regulations at hand would be beneficial eventually, but the industry needs immediate intercession.
“We call for financial incentives to support those companies within Europe that make an impactful contribution to a sustainable and circular textile value chain,” she said. “And we need to restrict the import of ‘throwaway’ fashion within the EU.”
And it’s not just the EU that needs help. Wheeler pointed out this problem is a global one, hitting the UK’s used textile industry particularly hard, with many TRA members reportedly shuttering operations if change is not imminent.
Following the Challenging Circularity Conference, Wheeler wrote a list of requests for the UK government to take into consideration. The trade body called for business rate exemptions, fuel and energy cost assistance as well as support with wage costs and staff shortages caused by Brexit.
“We have a really great sector here that is doing some vital and amazing work right now. What is more, there are some exciting innovators working in the field that have the potential to deliver new markets and new efficiencies,” he wrote. “However, we need the support now to help overcome the economic woes the sector is in. With the right policies being implemented, this will help to get money into the system and attract investment from industry.”
Solve the daily Crossword
