Fashioning solutions to textile waste

It’s never been simpler to look fabulous or keep up with trends as it is today. Consumerism is thriving and fashion remains obnoxiously fast. On the surface, it all seems wonderfully glamorous, but the trends are becoming highly unfashionable.

The “fast” in fast fashion is indicative of more than the industry’s ability to replicate catwalk trends and the latest designs en-masse and cheaply. It also demonstrates how quickly these clothes are being discarded.

According to the World Economic Forum, the fashion industry has doubled production in the past 15 years, despite clothing being worn 40% less before being  discarded.

This was in 2019, pre-pandemic. The shift to shopping online, with promises of free returns to lure more consumers, has worsened the problem. An article in The Atlantic a year ago estimated that billions of dollars in returned products are thrown away in the US every year — and the fashion industry is no exception.

Apart from taking up space in landfills already buckling under the weight of unsustainable practices, textile waste can take more than 200 years to decompose, while generating methane gas and leaching chemicals and dyes into groundwater and soil.

THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM

To understand the extent of the problem globally, Ghana offers a sobering case study. It’s been reported that about 15-million items of clothing are imported from western countries every week under the guise of donating second-hand clothing for needy developing countries. In reality, 40% of what is imported into Ghana is illegally dumped, littering the beaches, oceans and dump sites of its capital, Accra.

Globally, the figures are coming to light, but locally the problem is yet to be quantified. Dr Noredine Loeid Mahdjoub, a senior research scientist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and an expert in the circular economy, started working in the textile waste field four years ago. “I was told that textile waste can become the next plastic [problem] because clothing is becoming cheaper and cheaper, and everybody is able to buy clothes at a very low price and dispose [of] them very easily,” he says.

“Unfortunately in South Africa, nobody can quantify [the problem] because it’s not considered priority waste yet,” even though it is appearing in landfills and rivers.

FINDING LOCAL SOLUTIONS

Locally, small organisations aren’t thinking about how to simply get rid of this waste, but how to use it to create social impact.

The inability to quantify the problem locally was a challenge for recycling start-up Rewoven. Founded in 2018 by Tshepo Bhengu, Esethu Cenga and Lonwabo Mgoduso, the company manufactures 100%-recycled fabrics from offcuts and textile waste.

“What we’ve found from the local municipalities [in the Western Cape] is that around 6.5% of waste in landfills is textile waste and that’s been grouped under ‘other’, so not really quantified on its own,” says Rewoven COO Bhengu.

Last year the team was awarded the Mandela Rhodes Foundation Äänit Prize which supports initiatives that deliver positive social impact for Africa’s most marginalised populations. It has allowed them to increase the amount of textile waste they handle and to grow their team.

RESELL, REMAKE, REPAIR

Started in 2010 as The Clothing Bank and recently rebranded, Taking Care of Business (TCB) is a non-profit founded by Tracey Gilmore and Tracey Chambers which processes pre- and post-consumer waste. 

What started as an idea in Cape Town to provide jobs for 20 women by tapping into the clothing-waste industry has grown into a national operation that equips aspiring entrepreneurs with the skills and resources they need to participate in TCB's resell initiative through which unemployed mothers are able to sell clothes in the circular economy; its remake initiative through which seamstresses repurpose textile waste, fabric, trims and cut samples; and its appliance repair and trading business which tackles the problem of e-waste. 

They now have branches in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, East London and Paarl, as well as relationships with many big retailers across South Africa. 

In 12 years TCB has diverted 16.45-million items from landfills and recruited 5,775 people into its enterprise development training programmes.

“Economically the South African environment is slightly different in that we have a very strong retail sector and a strong less formal sector. So things definitely move from the formal to the informal,” Gilmore says.

Last year alone they received 2-million donations from their retail partners, translating to a real opportunity for unemployed South Africans to generate an income.

RECYCLE, DOWNCYCLE AND UPCYCLE

Clothes to Good is a textile recycling and disability empowerment organisation which recycles between 15 and 20 tonnes of clothes a month. Much of this waste is the result of working with H&M and Levi’s, which have clothing recycling hubs nationally.

All post-consumer and textile waste is reused, repaired or donated; upcycled, downcycled; shredded for use in mattress, insulation or motor industries; or, in rare instances when textiles cannot be repurposed, incinerated.

The organisation views waste as an asset. “It’s a resource and you should see it differently. The types of things we do with waste are positive,” says Jacendra Naidoo, founder and MD of Clothes for Good.

“There are so many opportunities that can come out of recycling, upcycling and downcycling. We just need to be aware of the challenges and be honest and open about them.”

Another project that’s turned challenges into successes through recycling is Fabric, an initiative between Wastecrete and Ackermans that turns clothing and footwear into building materials.

CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM

Despite limited awareness about the problem of textile and retail waste, and lack of recognition of it as a legitimate waste stream in South Africa, those addressing it are optimistic.

Legally, unlike Ghana, South Africa has laws and policies that forbid importing and exporting textile waste from developed countries.

And the discourse is changing. “Attitudes towards textile waste and sustainability have changed significantly since we started in 2018,” Bhengu says.

“As the conversation around sustainability grows, we’ve found a lot of manufacturers are starting to embrace these principles and open up their doors for us to go in and provide this education and help them bring in practices that support sustainability and the recycling of textile waste.”

Gilmore believes not enough is being done, but that we’re on the right path, while Tammy Greyling, the operations director at Clothes to Good, says the customers and clients they work with are trying hard and realising this is the right thing to do.

“I don’t think, as South Africa, we can ever do enough because we are way behind other countries,” Greyling says, adding that the government and fashion industry need to do more to address recycling.

“Waste is a gigantic problem. It’s not something that we’ve done for hundreds of years that’s just going to disappear in a decade. We are going to have to change behaviours and ultimately consumers will have to change too. [But] it’s not about what government should be doing. It’s not about what the media should be doing or the retailers should be doing. It’s the people on the ground — the you and I — what should we be doing, what should we be thinking about our retail waste?”

As Bhengu says, it’s time for people to use their money as their vote for sustainability, whether that means rethinking your relationship with clothes, adjusting practices as a consumer by investing in sustainable products or finding out what you can do to recycle. The time for change is now.

FIVE WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS/THE CLOTHING BANK

You can donate used and unwanted clothes to TCB by dropping them off in "take back bins" at participating Woolworths and Foschini stores nationally. You can also donate your items by emailing info@tcb.org.za. For more information visit tcb.org.za.

CLOTHES TO GOOD

You can donate used clothes, bedding and other textiles to Clothes to Good by dropping them off at Clothes to Good in Centurion, Gauteng, or any H&M store nationwide. Pre-loved jeans can be dropped off at Levi’s stores nationwide. For more information visit clothestogood.com.

YAGA

Free to use, Yaga is an online marketplace that facilitates the selling and buying of pre-loved clothes. It’s a great tool for promoting a circular economy in a relatively risk-free way: once you make a purchase, funds are transferred to Yaga’s account where they are held until the item reaches the buyer. The funds are then released to the seller once the buyer confirms receiving the purchase. Delivery is via Paxi PEP or Pudo. Visit yaga.co.za or download the Yaga app.

TWYG SWAP&MEND POP-UPS

A magazine and non-profit organisation, Twyg focuses on sustainable, circular, regenerative and ethical fashion. One way it is tackling fashion industry waste is by holding Swap&Mend pop-ups at Nude Foods in Cape Town to promote the recirculation and reuse of clothes. For more information and upcoming dates visit twyg.co.za.

MAVEN COLLECTION

Describing itself as a #proudlynotnew online store, the team behind Maven Collection offers curated international brands, local boutique brands, vintage clothes, shoes and accessories for women, men and children, with nationwide delivery. As a bonus, for every item sold Maven donates an item to TCB. IT has also opened a studio in Hout Bay, Cape Town. For more information visit mavencollection.co.za.