Recycling news and archive

Fibersort and Trimclean prepare textile world for high-performance recycling

Belgian machine builder Valvan has built not one but two machines that facilitate textile recycling. Fibersort and Trimclean can sort textiles automatically. This is the company's response to impending legislation on textile collection and eco-design. One garment per second, equivalent to about 1,200 kilograms per hour. That's how much clothing...

Business

Fashion and sustainability in July 2023

While July mainly beckoned with warm summer weather, it revealed some dark clouds in the field of fashion and sustainability: The European Court of Auditors, for example, found that the EU’s transition to a circular economy has come to a virtual standstill despite the ten billion euros made available to EU member states to promote the circular...

Fashion Featured

Most garments donated to major fashion stores are destroyed, not repurposed

Major fashion stores, including H&M, Zara, C&A, Primark, Nike, The North Face, Uniqlo, and M&S, are falling short in their promises of reusing or recycling donated clothing, as revealed by the largest tracking investigation of its kind. The study conducted by the Changing Markets Foundation, using Apple AirTags to monitor 21 items, found that...

Business

Fashion and sustainability in June 2023

The month of June was all about sharing information - about new materials, EU legislation and industry pioneers who are driving sustainability in the textile and apparel sector. Sustainability was also the key point on the agenda at the Global Fashion Summit. Product and material innovations In March, the sustainability-oriented footwear...

Culture

Fashion house Aelis upcycling tutus for Paris Opera

Ecology-focused couture brand Aelis announced a partnership with the Paris Opera to upcycle tutus into bespoke dresses and new costumes at its fashion week show on Thursday. Aelis founder Sofia Crociani said she was initially inspired for a new collection by dandelion seeds, which reminded her of ballet tutus. That led her to go see a friend at...

Business |Opinion

H&M's response to allegations of dumping textile waste in Global South highlights industry’s problems

In 2013, H&M was the first fashion retailer to launch its global clothing collection campaign; by now, collection bins for old clothes can also be found in the retail outlets of other H&M Group brands such as Monki, Weekday, Cos, Arket and & Other Stories. The company promised at the time that 95 percent of the thousand tonnes of textiles thrown...

BusinessFeatured

Marks & Spencer, New Look and Pangaia join recycling technology project

The UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT) has announced a series of new government-funded projects centred around textile recycling infrastructure, circular fashion and sustainable manufacturing. One of the first initiatives, the Autosort for Circular Textiles Demonstrator (ACT UK), is a four million pound project to develop and pilot an...

Business

Lululemon establishes partnership with textile recycling startup, Samsara Eco

Sportswear company Lululemon has announced a new multi-year collaboration with textile-to-textile recycling firm, Samsara Eco, as it looks to scale its circularity practices. The brand said that through the partnership it is aiming to make infinitely recycled nylon and polyester from its own products using the startup’s circular process. Samsara...

Business

Lush invests in circular recycling facility in Poole

UK-based beauty brand Lush has invested 2.3 million pounds in a new Green Hub at Fleets Corner Business Park in Poole to grow its capabilities in the circular economy. The Green Hub recycling facility spans 40,128 square feet within Lush’s UK manufacturing and distribution hub at Fleets Corner, which totals 275,000 square feet following the...

Tips for building a more sustainable wardrobe

In this background story, FashionUnited gives you tips on how to create a more sustainable wardrobe - or if you’re a retailer, how to advise consumers about more sustainable fashion. Contents • How to build a more sustainable wardrobe • Still want something new? Consider renting clothes, or buying second-hand • Would you rather buy brand new...

Business

Fashion and sustainability in April 2023

April has been the most active and promising month so far this year in terms of sustainability in the fashion industry. It was marked by Earth Day on 20th April, Fashion Revolution Week, which commemorated the tenth anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh on 24th April 2013, and the World Retail Congress in Barcelona from...

Business

Repreve announces Champions of Sustainability award winners

For the sixth time since 2016, the Repreve Champions of Sustainability Awards are being given to brands, retailers and textile mills that are using sustainable fibres in their products. The global awards honour the transformation of single-use plastic bottles into new consumer products, thus saving them from the waste stream. Repreve is made...