Textile Recycling: Reducing waste and promoting Circular Economy

The negative impact of textile waste is more significant than ever. Textile recycling and promoting a circular economy have emerged as urgent needs to attain sustainable development. Why is circular economy becoming popular? What is the need for that?

Textile recycling 

Recycling is a sustainable practice to avert resource scarcity in the era of fast fashion. Disposal of petroleum-based synthetic fabrics or water-intensive natural fabrics and preparatory chemicals has a significant impact on the ecosystem.

By collecting and reprocessing residuals, which would eventually end up in landfills or incinerators, recycling minimizes the extraction of virgin resources, reduces energy consumption, and decreases pollution.

Let's take a look at several approaches to textile recycling;

Mechanical Recycling

Shredding and tearing undamaged second-hand textiles into fibres, then spinning them into new yarns and fabrics.

Chemical Recycling

Decomposing contaminated textiles into original components for new materials.

Upcycling

Transforming used intact textiles into higher-value products to extend their lifespan.

Recycling opens the possibility for the development of a circular economy by reintroducing materials into the production cycle.

The solution in the form of the circular economy

The circular economy comes second to none in waste minimization and maximum resource utilization. This is a closed-loop model different from the linear 'take-make-dispose' model.

A circular economy (CE) works as a bridge between ecosystems and economic development and establishes a sustainable fashion market.

Why is a circular economy better than recycling?

In the recycling process, the materials are recycled until they're converted into useless remains. However, a circular economy upstreams the used textiles without downgrading or downcycling, which eliminates waste production.

How CE principles pave the way to a Green economy

The core principle of a circular economy is eliminating waste through circulating materials at their highest value in a closed-loop system. It follows the 5R hierarchy system, which includes refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle.

A textile industry with a circular vision optimizes resource efficiency, waste reduction, and valorization. Transitioning to a CE makes room for more innovative ideas in remanufacturing and technological jobs. The circularIn the future, the economy will align with ethical fashion and the green economy.

Promoting the circular economy in the RMG industry of Bangladesh

The RMG industry in Bangladesh has taken necessary steps towards the circular economy in the textile industry. The Circular Fashion Partnership, a collaboration between the Global Fashion Agenda, Reverse Resources, P4G, and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), shows the industry's commitment to reducing waste and preserving natural resources.

It focuses on producing new garments from recycling and implementing a circular fashion to address the surplus inventory resulting from the COVID-19 crisis.

The RMG can contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 12 by being responsible for consumption and production while reducing carbon emissions and waste in landfills.

With waste tracking and trading, apparel waste can be upcycled with reverse resources' expertise to ensure an efficient and economically viable waste management system.

This comprehensive approach will promote an eco-conscious textile industry in Bangladesh.