The importance of recycling in the fashion industry

According to The True Cost, every year over 80 million apparel items are purchased in the world, and the fashion industry may be responsible for  10% of CO2 emissions, thus being the second polluting industry after the oil industry.

This is due to the fast fashion: people buy low cost, poor quality items with a short life cycle and tons of waste end up in the landfills.

Estimates say over 12 million clothing items are incinerated every year in the world, and most of them will never decompose. As a result of this, many toxic substances are released in the air, in the soil and into groundwater.

Textile companies and fashion brands, more and more aware of the environmental problem, have been working for the creation of a trendy fashion which could satisfy customers’ requests while being, at the same time, ethical and eco-sustainable.

There are many companies now, which have embraced this new philosophy which is no longer money oriented but also aims to a global greater good. Even the fashion industry has understood the importance of using  fabrics made of recycled fibers for the creation of apparel items and has given life to various innovative collections, which, starting from circular economy, include second-hand items or unconventional raw materials coming from recycling processes.

The fact of using fabrics made of recycled fibers implies at least three main advantages:

• Reducing the space taken by waste materials inside landfills

• Reducing the use of dyestuff and thus the contamination deriving from waste waters

• Reducing pollution and energy consumption