The fast fashion model is simple. Figure out what consumers want, produce a lot of it and repeat.
While this model has delivered low prices to consumers, its social and environmental price has been high, fuelling carbon emissions, mountains of contaminating waste and a range of human rights infringements.
This model has never been sustainable but technology transforming the recycled materials landscape could change that equation for the better, WE Forum reported.
In fact, using a high proportion of recycled materials could help scale sustainable practices or at least help tackle many of the sector’s sustainability problems. Without changing fast fashion’s business model, high use of recycled materials appears to be the only way to do this.
A new understanding of recycled material solutions
The benefits to recycled materials are clear. Using recycled content in clothing can reduce CO2 by up to 80%, as well as creating huge reductions in chemical and water usage which in turn improve soil quality, and stop the diversion of water from surface and groundwater sources.
Recycling materials also creates a market for end-of-life fibres. Only about 1% of all clothes are recycled. With nearly 90% of clothing sold in some markets being made from cotton or polyester, a market that repurposes these materials for a new use creates a financial incentive to collect unwanted textiles.
Change at scale can be difficult for legacy clothing brands who have gotten used to a profitable business model. Indeed, the rankings in Kearney’s Circular Fashion Index have scarcely changed over the past years, demonstrating that most legacy brands are not addressing their environmental footprints in a material way.
However, key developments in technology can make scale for recycled materials possible. Maximizing this technology will require rethinking what is and isn’t possible in the fashion space.
Myth: Recycled yarn is more costly than virgin yarn
For many years, brands and designers were reluctant to use recycled yarn due to its cost. For example, recycled polyester has been available since the 1990s, but the industry was slow to transition because of the initial higher costs.
However, today recycled polyester is often similarly priced to its virgin counterparts . In the area of cotton recycling, thanks to new technical innovations which can open up material whilst maintaining fibre length, certain recycled yarns made from a mix of pre- and post-consumer ‘waste’, can actually be less expensive than virgin yarn with equal quality.