Tackling Textile Waste in Europe – Germany, France and Italy under the loop
Textile waste has become an increasingly urgent environmental issue in Europe and globally, fuelled by the rise of (ultra) fast fashion and the increasing volumes of discarded clothing. The European Union faces a significant challenge, with approximately 6.95 million tonnes of textile waste generated in 2020 — averaging around 16 kg per person. Of this, only 4.4 kg per person was collected separately for reuse and recycling, while 11.6 kg per person ended up in mixed household waste. On average, a whopping 82% of textile waste was post-consumer waste, household and non-household sources combined, followed by an additional post-industrial waste (17%) and pre-consumer waste, accounting for 1% (European Environment Agency,…
After Mylo, the “leather” from mycelium, also Circulose, the textile fiber from recycled cotton, stops
Last year, the company Bolt Threads decided to put Mylo, an innovative “leather” from mycelium, on hold, despite the support of large brands such as Adidas, Kering and Stella McCartney. A couple of weeks ago, Renewcell, the renowned manufacturer of Circulose, had to file for bankruptcy despite significant support and partnerships gained in the industry. The pause of Bolt Threads and the failure of Renewcell, two major players in sustainable fashion, raise questions about the fashion industry’s effectiveness in supporting innovative solutions to reduce environmental impact. Renewcell Renewcell is a Swedish company known for its technology that recycles cotton T-shirts and jeans destined for landfill into a new material, Circulose,…
UE: “We want fast fashion out of fashion”
On 30 March 2022 the European Commission published the Sustainable and Circular Textiles Strategy, long awaited to lead the fashion industry towards sustainability by cleaning it from the dark sides. Textile consumption in Europe has the fourth largest impact on the environment and climate change, after food, shelter and mobility. The strategy implements the commitments made under the European Green Deal (#EUGreenDeal) and the new action plan for the circular economy. The EU thus begins to define end criteria for textile waste used not only as clothing, but also for household, cars, medical equipment, buildings and many other applications. The strategy aims to propose actions for the entire life cycle…
UE: “Vogliamo far uscire di moda il fast fashion”
Il 30 marzo 2022 la Commissione Europea ha reso pubblica la Strategia per il Tessile Sostenibile e Circolare, tanto attesa per condurre l’industria della moda verso la sostenibilità ripulendola dai lati oscuri. Puoi ascoltare qui l’articolo: Strategia Tessile EU Il consumo di tessili in Europa ha il quarto maggiore impatto sull’ambiente e sui cambiamenti climatici, dopo cibo, alloggio e mobilità. La strategia attua così gli impegni presi nell’ambito del Green Deal europeo (#EUGreenDeal) e del nuovo piano d’azione per l’economia circolare. L’UE inizia infatti a definire i criteri di fine vita dei rifiuti tessili utilizzati non solo come abbigliamento, ma anche per la casa, le automobili, le apparecchiature mediche, gli…
What are our clothes made of?
What fibers make up our garments? What are the clothes of Zara, Mango, H&M and other fast fashion brands made of? How much are the clothes we throw away actually reusable and recyclable? About 550 kg of clothes were analyzed in the first ever study on fibers thrown into textile collection containers. Developed by INTEXTER * of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)) and student Beatriz Rodríguez of ESEIAAT **, the study is included in the report Análisis de la recogida de la ropa usada en España (Analysis of the collection of used clothing in Spain)***. Analyzing the composition of the textile products in the bins through an innovative methodology,…
H&M’s machine recycles used clothes in 5 hours: is this sustainable fast fashion?
The fast fashion Swedish brand H&M has found a way to avoid old clothes to be thrown away, but instead recycled to give them a new life. All of this, in just 5 hours! The brand will give the opportunity to clients to go to their Stockholm shop where they will be able to return their undesired clothes, which will then be sanitised and put inside a new machine called Looop. The machine will disassemble the fibres that will be reutilized to create new clothing items. H&M stated for CNN that these recycling process, developed together with the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) and spinner company…
- Artigianato, Companies / Aziende, Dove acquistare, Fashion/Moda, Food/Cibo, Handicraft, Minimalism, Recycling/Riciclo, Vintage/Second-hand
Special Ideas for more sustainable gifts – How to choose presents more responsibly and pleasantly!
We announced it in the posts on Christmas initiatives: as promised, here is a special article to suggest ideas for choosing gifts more consciously! Maybe you are doing the slalom between articles, posts and stories that suggest purchases for the holidays, now here is also Dress Ecode on the subject! We have worked hard in the last weeks so that it was not the usual Christmas guide. We are not for pushing to buy in the occasion of a particular holiday or time of the year, because the consumption model we propose wants to spread greater responsibility in our daily choices. We hope you will find here useful tips not…
- Artigianato, Circular economy, Companies / Aziende, Dove acquistare, Fashion/Moda, Handicraft, Recycling/Riciclo, Upcycling/Riuso
Peterson+Stoop’s sneakers: when repair becomes high fashion
Meeting Peterson+Stoop allows us to reflect upon a very important aspect regarding waste in the fashion industry. In Italy the shoe business is predicted to grow over 3.4% between 2020 and 2025. According to a report of the Italian Institute of Research Eurispes, 37% of Italians purchases a new pair of shoes every 3 months, noteworthy numbers that make us understand how important is talking about the production and consumption of shoes in a more sustainable way. Besides the actual shoes ending up in landfills at the end of the life cycle, during the tanning process also the shoe factories produce significant waste: dust, scraps and leather clippings polymeric materials…
“What for some is waste, for me is gold”: Giulia Boccafogli tells the story about her contemporary jewels
Brand in focus is a series of interviews made for Sfashion-net*, our partner in the diffusion of an alternative model to fast fashion. For them we interview Giulia Boccafogli, architect and creator of contemporary handcrafted jewels by recovering precious leathers. We have decided to tell the story of Giulia and her creations because of her choice of using recycled materials and the modern design, elegant and original of her jewels, the ‘Giulielli’. Giulia, can you tell us which products your brand makes and who is behind it? “I am an architect who at a certain point fell in love with making jewelry and for a long time now, this has…
TOM, the green bin that transforms packaging and waste in public places in 8 weeks!
TOM is a special bin: installed in bars, museums, stations, airports, offices, restaurants or other public places, it collects compostable packaging and food waste produced by the premises and transforms them into organic fertilizer within 8 weeks. TOM is manufactured in Sweden by Orwak, a company that has been designing and manufacturing waste compactors and balers since 1971. With a large worldwide network of representatives it has a good local presence in many of the countries where the systems are installed. Since January 2020, Sulo, a global company based in France, has acquired Sac Group of which Orwak is a part. Sulo offers solutions for the collection and separation of…
