Less than 1% used clothing gets recycled
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, less than 1% of used clothing is recycled and remade into new garments. Globally, in contrast, 9% of plastic and about half of paper gets recycled. The used clothing discards enter a multibillion-dollar secondhand supply chain to countries like Ghana and India where they are repurposed into carpets, auto insulation and even as bedding for lab animals. The rest 99% ends up in landfills and lines up the developing countries seashore with discards.
The technology to recycle clothes to new fibers for new garments consumes more resources and produces more waste than reusing the existing material. Researchers urge people to transition from the fast-fashion market to make a significant change in global recycling.
The Key is to use the garment as long as possible.
