Market Trends of Textile Recycling Industry
Europe is Set to Revamp Initiatives Focused on Reducing Waste
In July 2023, the European Commission issued its strategies to revise the Waste Framework Directive, stressing new rules on the responsibility of textile producers and new targets for reducing food waste. According to the European Environmental Agency, the proposal could face difficulties effectively reducing overproduction and waste in the food and textiles sectors.
Europe faces a threat from climate change and the degradation of natural resources. To meet such challenges, the European Green Deal is set to change the EU into a resource-efficient and competitive economy, ensuring no net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The European Commission says the European Green Deal has been its lifeline since the COVID-19 pandemic. One-third of the EUR 1.8 trillion (USD 1.93 trillion) investment in the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan and the EU's seven-year budget is financing the European Green Deal.
Technology is Revolutionizing the Textile Waste Management
Low-value waste can be transformed into new high-value textiles by recycling technologies. The need for innovation to exploit new recycling technologies enabling textile waste to be used as a basic material is underlined by political pressures and the climate crisis. To ensure any circular strategy's effectiveness, quality materials that can be recycled must be obtained.
Sulzer Ltd, together with Worn Again Technologies' unique solvent technology, provides equipment, technology, and expertise to form the heart of the process. New technologies and processes are also being adopted by textile recyclers to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. For example, Sulzer and H&M established Worn Again Technologies, which is working on a unique textile recycling process that turns textiles into virgin raw materials at their end of use.
A technology for the closed-loop recycling of textile waste was developed in March 2023 by Korea's Korean Research Institute on Chemical Technology. The KRICT research team has adopted an inexpensive and nontoxic biodegradable material to chemically discriminate polyester from a mixture of waste fabrics.
