20 piles of clothing the size of the Eiffel Tower every year: how one organisation wants to close the textile loop
Galaxus recently joined Fabric Loop, an association dedicated to building a voluntary textile recycling system in Switzerland. It’s also calling on politicians to take responsibility.
Clothes make the man, wrote Gottfried Keller. But this story is about the opposite – «the man» making clothes. Or rather, making new clothes from unwanted ones.
200,000 metric tonnes of clothing – half of it unaccounted for
Fabric Loop is an association aiming to establish a voluntary textile recycling system in Switzerland. Galaxus is one of its more recent members. Managing Director Simone Alabor delivers the numbers: «Every year, 200,000 metric tonnes of textiles are imported to Switzerland.» That’s roughly the weight of 20 Eiffel Towers made of jeans, T-shirts, socks and bedding.
Source: Fabric Loop
A part of these piles can be tracked. «60,000 metric tonnes end up in clothes banks, and 40,000 in the rubbish,» says Alabor. That leaves 100,000 tonnes of clothing with an unknown whereabouts. Some of them are probably hanging in wardrobes, others sent back or burnt in incinerators as commercial waste. «We just don’t know for sure,» says Alabor.
Another unknown is how much of the thrown-out clothes in Switzerland could actually be recycled. Fabric Loop aims to close this data gap. The industry association’s goal is to collect 80 per cent of all textiles disposed of each year.
Source: Manuel Wenk
A growing tendency to buy more clothes
The 200,000-metric-tonne pile is only expected to grow in the future. «We’re bracing for an upward trend,» says Alabor. A growing population also means a demand for more clothes, not to mention ultra-fast fashion.
We’re looking at a huge global problem. According to the EU, the amount of clothing bought in Europe (https://www.zdfheute.de/wirtschaft/fast-fashion-mode-altkleider-nachhaltigkeit-recycling-eu-100.html) is increasing (linked article in German). In fact, the total volume of clothing, most of which is produced in Asia, has reached a record high.
At the same time, the majority of discarded clothes isn’t being disposed of in the EU, but in Asia and Africa, where it ends up as landfill polluting the ground (video in German). Or it’s sold at rock-bottom prices at local clothing markets (link in German).
From trading system to circular economy
This is where Fabric Loop comes into play. «Today’s system is, in effect, a trading system,» explains Alabor. A system that hinges on the collection of clothes, above all. Some of these clothes are then sold at a profit, which finances the system.
Anything that can’t be sold is a cost factor. And, according to Alabor, we’re at a tipping point when it comes to the latter. Volumes are increasing, quality is declining and overseas markets have shifted to the detriment of collectors. «We’re currently seeing the first clothes bank containers being removed and municipalities having to make increasingly larger co-payments. The future of clothes collection is at stake.»
That’s why Fabric Loop wants to establish a circular system by collecting textiles for reuse while also promoting recycling. The idea of the association is to include clothing and shoes as well as home textiles and work clothes.
«With this approach, even a mattress cover with holes could potentially become a resource, as it contains valuable fibres.» The association aims to finance the project through an advance recycling fee as is already the case for electronic waste or PET.
Fabric Loop wants to collect, sort and process textiles so that they’re suitable for recycling facilities. This, in turn, would provide recycling companies with the commitment they need to increase investments and build new plants.
Politicians to tackle free-riders
As with recycling electronics, there’s a fundamental issue emerging in textile recycling. «If everyone’s on board, everyone benefits. But if certain actors don’t participate, we all lose out,» Alabor explains. What she means free-riding.
In other words, as soon as the system is up and running, customers will start using it, regardless of whether the respective textile manufacturer or retailer takes part in the system. This effect is doubly harmful. Why? Because free-riders are dodging the advance fee and making costs go up for everyone else as they’re having to pay instead. «Free-riders can cause an entire system to collapse or, in our case, prevent it from ever taking off.» More than 30 per cent of the Swiss fashion market’s volume stems from online platforms abroad. «We can’t bank on them participating voluntarily in an industry-wide solution.»
That’s why Alabor is pinning her hopes on policymakers. A motion by Zurich National Council member Regine Sauter calls for textile manufacturers and retailers, including online platforms, to take responsibility for recycling (link in German). «Without this motion, it will be considerably harder to develop an industry-wide solution.»
What’s in it for you?
A well-oiled system would bring numerous benefits to Swiss society. Namely, a clothes collection system that’s not on the verge of collapsing and doesn’t rely on taxpayer money. Bin bag fees would also be lower, as home textiles would be included in the collection in the future. And most importantly, the clothes would be sorted in Switzerland instead of abroad. «We want to boost the regional economic value.» In addition, there’s a secondhand market that Alabor believes has significant growth potential.
The rag question
What happened to all those organisations who used to turn old clothes into cleaning rags? «They still exist,» Alabor says. Cleaning rags and insulation materials are still being produced, but not in this country for the most part. Ninety-eight per cent of textiles collected in Switzerland are exported, and most of the recycling also takes place abroad.
«What we don’t have is fibre-to-fibre recycling, so recycled fibres are used in the textile market.»
What this means is that old T-shirts are still being turned into cleaning rags, but not into new T-shirts. And that’s precisely what needs to change. Not clothes making the man, but man making the clothes.
Want to stay in the loop on Swiss textile recycling? Sign up for the newsletter on the Fabric Loop website here.
At Digitec Galaxus, I deal with politics, business and society. Outside of work, I like to buy books and stack them up at home. The Japanese call this «tsundoku».
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