Quantification of used textile collections for re-use and recycling in the UK

In 2017, approximately 600,000 tonnes of textiles were collected for re-use and recycling in the UK, which increased to 620,000 tonnes in 2018. This indicates progress in the industry, but it is necessary to increase recycling efforts.

As textile manufacturers demand more raw materials, fibre-to-fibre (F2F) recycling presents a new opportunity for end-markets. The growth in clothing spending in the UK (and its associated environmental impacts), along with 921,000 tonnes of household used textiles still going to landfill or incineration, highlights both the challenge and the economic and environmental potential for the sector.

To overcome barriers to F2F recycling, key opportunities include:

  • improving post-consumer textiles collection and sorting processes,

  • introducing automation to increase accuracy and decrease costs in the sorting process,

  • developing and communicating feedstock specifications through collaboration between textile merchants and F2F recycling process developers,

  • fostering demand (pull) from brands, retailers, and consumers, and

  • supporting F2F recycling process developers and those in the textile merchant supply chain in securing finance for process scale-up and commercialisation.

Oakdene Hollins, 2019, ‘A quantification of used textile collections for re-use and recycling in the UK’ (unpublished research for WRAP) has been utilised in this report by WRAP.

Oakdene Hollins