Nine out of ten natural disasters are related to climate change. Over the past decade, disasters A new processing plant enables the recycling of discarded textiles.
A local waste management company and the recycling firm Rester are refining old textiles into raw materials. This allows the textile industry to use recycled fibres in new products.
The textile industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. Fast fashion and low-quality raw materials have made the sector produce vast amounts of clothes. In the EU, around 26 kilograms of textiles per person are thrown out every year. Therefore, the whole system of fabrics needs to be changed from a linear to a circular model. Finland could be one of the European textile recycling hubs, turning old textiles into new materials.
Southwest Finland’s waste management company and Rester are building processing plants for recycling. One plant works with old textiles from households, and the other works with materials used in different industries.
The recycling of textiles helps reach the EU’s Green Deal targets and brings the national circular economy program into action. By replacing primary raw materials with recycled fibres and by using products as long as possible, we have the opportunity to affect the enormous global textile value chain. The production and consumption of textiles have significant environmental, climate and social impacts. This is due to the use of water, land, pesticides, chemicals and the emission of greenhouse gases and pollutants.