What is Waste Ownership? And Who Should Shoulder the Responsibility of Textile Recovery?
What happens to our clothes when we’re done wearing them?
In a perfect world, garments would be worn to their fullest extent, maximizing their use and value. Once the original owner decides not to wear an item anymore, it would be donated, resold, and repaired if needed.
This journey would continue over and over, again and again in a perpetual cycle until the garment reached its end-of-life, the point at which a garment can no longer be used for its original purpose due to wear and tear.
At this end-of-life stage, it would be recycled into a new garment and the cycle would continue again with the new garment being worn to its fullest extent, donated, resold, and repaired — again and again.
The problem, however, is that this ideal scenario is far from reality.
At least not at scale.
The Reality of Textile Waste
Instead, the vast majority of discarded clothing—up to 60-70% in some regions—ends up in landfills, often just after one user, where the natural fibers may take years to decompose, emitting methane, while synthetic fibers might not decompose at all, contributing to long-term pollution and environmental degradation.
Some of the discarded clothing is incinerated, which reduces landfill waste but releases carbon dioxide and potentially harmful toxins into the atmosphere, depending on the materials being burned and the incineration technology used.
Others are downcycled into lower-quality products like industrial rags, insulation, and stuffing for upholstery. While downcycling does extend the materials life it’s not a true closed-loop solution as it's often just a step away from eventual disposal.
Despite all the recent buzz around textile-to-textile recycling, currently, only a fraction of clothing is recycled into new garments. This is due to several challenges, including inadequate scalable infrastructure, the complexity of material compositions, and the lack of sufficient economic incentives for recycling.
Many used clothes are donated to charity shops or sold in second-hand markets, and although donating and selling used clothing can extend the life of garments, the volume of these donations often outstrips local needs. As a result, a significant portion is shipped to developing countries, where they can saturate markets, disrupt local textile industries, and wreak havoc on their ecosystems, as many of these countries often don’t have the capacity to effectively manage the influx of clothing and end up driving piles of garments in international landfills.
The United States stands as the global leader in exporting second-hand clothing, with the United Kingdom being the principal exporter to Ghana.
This stark reality emphasizes the critical need for sustainable solutions and a comprehensive reevaluation of how we produce, consume, and manage the disposal of our clothing.
As awareness of the negative impacts of clothing waste grows, alongside regulatory demands and a collective desire to address and mitigate the environmental, economic, and social impacts of textile waste through more responsible production, consumption, and disposal practices, the question arises: who is responsible for managing textile waste?
Waste Ownership and Responsibility
“Waste ownership" refers to the accountability for managing the end-of-life of products.
The debate about who should bear the responsibility for textile recovery—whether it be producers, consumers, governmental bodies, or all stakeholders collectively—is at the heart of an interconnection. Managing textile waste effectively goes beyond merely determining accountability; it encompasses the implementation of systems and policies that promote sustainable practices throughout the entire lifecycle of clothing.
The challenge of effectively managing textile waste is amplified by several factors: the diversity of stakeholders involved, the global complexity of the fashion supply chain, which hinders the logistics of sustainably recycling or disposing of used clothing, the wide range of materials used in garments, the absence of financial incentives for recycling coupled with the high costs of developing new recycling technologies, and the lack of supportive policies and regulations, among others. These elements collectively contribute to the difficulty of addressing textile waste management in an effective manner.
Faced with the complex challenges of textile waste management, there's a growing shift towards solutions that tackle these issues from the ground up. Among these, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies stand out as a promising strategy. EPR policies place the onus on producers for the end-of-life impact of their products, incentivizing them to create goods that are not only more sustainable but also easier to recycle. This approach has the potential to significantly transform how textile waste is managed by encouraging more responsible product design and lifecycle management.
Despite the recognition of EPR policies as a method to hold producers accountable for their product's end-of-life impact, their implementation remains scarce.
France stands out as the sole country with an active EPR program specifically for textiles and clothing. Regions like California, the United Kingdom, and Canada have initiated conversations around adopting EPR for textiles, but in the absence of legislative mandates requiring producers to reclaim textiles, there's little incentive for them to do so.
The Role of Next-Life Logistics
As discussions on EPR frameworks continue to evolve, the urgent question remains: How can we effectively address the substantial amounts of textile waste generated every day?
Within the limitations of current waste management practices and the slow adoption of EPR policies, the focus shifts to innovative interim solutions like next-life logistics.
Next-life logistics, pioneered by Debrand—a company at the forefront of building systems of sustainability for global apparel and footwear brands—emerges as an essential interim solution. This strategy aims to extend the lifespan of textiles through resale, donation, repair, recycling, and responsible disposal, thus directly addressing the issue of textile waste.
Next-life logistics serves as a bridge between present practices and future aspirations for a circular economy in fashion. It offers a pathway for companies to begin incorporating circular principles into their operations today, setting the stage for more comprehensive sustainability initiatives in the future.
This approach not only addresses the immediate issue of waste but also encourages innovation in product design, material selection, and consumer engagement—key elements for achieving long-term sustainability goals.
While we work towards systemic changes and the full realization of concepts like EPR in the textile industry, next-life logistics offers a tangible and immediate solution to the pressing issue of textile waste. By adopting practices that extend the life of textiles, we can make a significant impact now, paving the way for a more sustainable and circular future in fashion.
