UK secondhand clothing market grapples with addiction to fast fashion
30-4-2024
UK SECONDHAND CLOTHING MARKET GRAPPLES WITH ADDICTION TO FAST FASHION
New research from climate action NGO Waste and
Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has revealed almost half (49%) of used
textiles are going in the bin, as it urges stakeholders to step up efforts
toward a circular fashion ecosystem.
WRAP
is advocating for support through grants, investments and legislation so the
secondhand clothing market can fuel the transition towards a more circular
fashion ecosystem.
It warns that the UK doesn’t have sufficient
infrastructure to accommodate all the clothing and textiles that are being
discarded and that recycling and reuse organisations need urgent support to
avoid sending textiles waste to landfill. It also highlights the need for
improved design to make clothes more durable.
WRAP’s latest Textiles Market Situation Report revealed that
responsibly donated textiles have seen a significant drop in price. This
decline is attributed to the oversaturation of “low-quality fast fashion” items
flooding the market, resulting in less revenue for reuse and recycling sectors.
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles.
However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so
we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
Its most recent estimates point to
the UK discarding 711,000 tonnes of post-consumer textiles into
residual black bins and general waste at Household Waste Recycling Centres
(HWRCs). This, WRAP pointed out, is the equivalent of almost 30,000 shipping
containers full of cast-off fashion and home textiles items a year.
Of this, evidence from WRAP’s new Waste Hotspots Report found that
in England alone, 613,000 tonnes of post-consumer i.e. household
textile waste were disposed through household residual waste bins and residual
waste banks at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs).
WRAP noted that 84% of that material was
incinerated with energy recovery and 11% sent to landfill. It believes this
represents a key concern for an industry with circular economy ambitions.
WRAP further warns a “perfect storm” is
brewing, with more post-consumer clothing coming onto the second-hand market
and the presence of more fast fashion and low-quality items impacting on the
profitability of the centuries old markets that trade in second hand clothing
and textiles.
Its latest report shows that the
value of recovered textiles from textile banks and charities has fallen
massively over the last decade.
According to WRAP, the 2023 figures stood at
£172.5 ($216.38) per tonne for textile banks and £255 per tonne for charity
shops, while a decade earlier, 2013 figures were more than double at £406 per
tonne for textile banks, and significantly higher at £432 per tonne for charity
shops.
WRAP emphasised that further to recent
sector warnings and current market dynamics, reuse and recycling businesses
have been struggling with lower quality goods, increased operational costs and
reduced access to labour, making it increasingly difficult for businesses to
survive.
Harriet Lamb, CEO at WRAP, believes we’re
all buying too many new items and then putting too many clothes in the
waste-bin consigning them to landfill or incineration.
Lamb explained: “These are valuable
resources, not waste. We should be giving to charity shops who rely on the
income, selling on e-commerce, repairing or sharing – anything but the bin! But
we also need to support those recycling our pre-loved clothes. Our reports show
that fast fashion and low-quality clothing are flooding the market, strangling
efforts to make our clothing more sustainable. In the end, we are paying a
heavy price for our addiction to cheap clothes.
“The waste, recycling and reuse sectors are
under immense pressure. The UK is fortunate to have an existing infrastructure
for textile collections that’s existed for generations. To risk losing their
knowledge and expertise would be a tragedy. We need action now so that we don’t
let this vitally important sector crumble.”
WRAP is calling on people not to throw their
unwanted clothing items in the bin but to donate through readily available
collection avenues like textile banks, charity shops, and retailer takeback or
sell online preloved marketplaces.
It sees a vital need for phased policy
intervention, as well as the design of clothes for durability and for the
industry to embrace circular business models.
The European Commission, meanwhile, is proposing new rules to
prevent and reduce textile waste across the EU by adopting a proposed
revision of the Waste Framework Directive.
Recently, WRAP opened a new office in Washington DC to coordinate action
on textile waste, plastic pollution and food waste across South, Central
and North America.
By Just Style
Copyright © 2021 Powered By AEC Egypt