The Truth Behind Recylcing of Your Child's Clothes

As shoppers buy more clothes and discard them faster than ever, an increasing amount of textiles are ending up in landfills. This trend, largely fueled by fast-fashion retailers, has led to a 60% jump in the total number of garments purchased annually per consumer from 2000 to 2014. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that the weight of textiles in American landfills increased by 67.7% from 2000 to 2015.

Unfortunately, the technology to recycle old clothes into new ones is still in its early stages. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation states that less than 1% of the fiber used to create clothes is recycled into new garments. A major challenge is that most clothing is made from a mix of materials, like cotton and polyester, which are difficult to separate for recycling.

While some companies, like H&M and Zara, have introduced in-store collection bins for used garments, these clothes are often sold as secondhand goods in emerging markets or turned into lower-value products like insulation or wiping cloths, which still eventually end up in a landfill.

However, some companies are beginning to invest in "closed-loop" recycling technologies that turn old clothes into new ones. The H&M Foundation has a pilot plant in Hong Kong that uses chemical and hydrothermal technology to recycle cotton and polyester blends into new yarns. Similarly, Inditex is funding research into textile recycling at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These new methods aim to reduce the environmental impact of fast fashion and address the growing consumer demand for sustainable practices.