News: NZ Textile Reuse Programme gains new members
Textile rental service Alsco and Wellington City Council have joined the New Zealand Textile Reuse Programme, which aims to reuse the 80 billion garments produced each year rather than see 75% of them go to landfill or incineration as at present.
Wednesday, 5th July 2017
Global clothing production has increased 4-fold in the last 20 years, and in New Zealand spending on clothing is at an all-time high of NZ$ 4 billion per year - not including corporate textiles production, which is thought to be 40x greater than domestic textiles.
Phase 2 of the Textile Reuse Programme has now begun, in which the the members are working on solutions for end-of-life textiles. The Formary, which has led the project since Phase 1 finished in 2016, says more companies are needed to take part if it is to have the best possible environmental impact.
Phase 1 included auditing the waste textiles generated by the project members to find the size of the problem, and designing a reprocessing model for NZ businesses and manufacturers. Phase 2 will establish a collection centre to receive, sort and redistribute end-of-life garments away from landfill into industry feedstock.
As Wellington City Council waste minimisation manager Kellie Benner said: “We recognise that textile waste is a growing problem in NZ with the amount of textile waste being sent to landfill growing each year. WCC is excited to start leading by example, through analysing and diverting from landfill our own uniforms, once they’ve reached their end of life."
We at Uniform Reuse agree: the place for organisations to start on the path to the Circular Economy is with their own corporatewear!
For more information on the NZ Textile Reuse Programme, follow the link below.
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