Fast Fashion
Only the Chinese discard approximately 20 million tonnes of clothing every year. Only a fraction of it is recycled. Young entrepreneurs are increasingly focusing on sustainability and China aims for carbon neutrality by 2060, but the government prohibits the reprocessing of old clothing.
Sorted roughly into light and dark colors, discarded textiles and bed sheets made of cotton pile up on the floor of a workshop in a textile factory in the Zhejiang Province on the Chinese eastern coast. Workers stuff them piece by piece into shredding machines - the first major step in the recycling process at the Wenzhou Tianchang Textile Company, one of the largest facilities for cotton recycling in China.
Textile waste is a significant global issue. Only twelve percent is recycled worldwide, according to statistics from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a UK-based organization specializing in sustainability in the economy. Only one percent of discarded clothing is turned into new clothing. The majority is used for low-value items such as insulation or mattress stuffing.
Nowhere is the problem more pressing than in China, the world's largest textile producer and consumer. According to government data, more than 20 million tonnes of clothing are discarded every year, most of which ends up in landfills. In a country where "Fast Fashion" dominates - clothing made from non-reusable synthetic fabrics, produced quickly and cheaply to follow trends - factories like the one in Wenzhou make little difference.
Recyclable Materials Without Forced Labor
Synthetic goods, produced from petrochemicals that significantly contribute to climate change and contaminate groundwater, make up 70 percent of textile sales in the country. However, the entire world benefits from the environmentally damaging production. Online giants like Shein and Temu have made China one of the largest producers of affordable fashion and sell it in over 150 countries.
To bring about fundamental change, larger Chinese fashion companies need to switch to a concept that avoids waste entirely, according to fashion expert Shaway Yeh. It's necessary to use recyclable fibers from the start, so that all these textile waste can be reused. However, this is still a distant goal. According to the Chinese government, only about 20 percent of its textiles are recycled - and almost all of that is cotton.
Recycled Cotton for New Clothing Banned
When it comes to China's environmental goals, it plays a leading role globally in the production of electric vehicles and in terms of electric public transportation. The declared goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, meaning no new CO2 emissions will be added to the atmosphere. Making fashion more sustainable and recycling textiles has so far had a minor role in comparison.
And there come obstacles due to local regulations. Recycled cotton from used clothing cannot be used for the production of new clothing pieces in China. This was originally intended to prevent shady reprocessing of dirty or otherwise contaminated materials. However, this means that the large cotton spools produced at the factory in Wenzhou with tightly woven cotton yarn from used clothing can only be sold for export - mostly to Europe.
Many Chinese consumers are not willing to buy used items. The sales director of the plant in Wenzhou, Kowen Tang, explains this by rising household incomes. "They want new clothing, new things," he says. However, among younger Chinese, there is a growing awareness of sustainability, which is reflected in the emergence of companies dealing in recycled goods - from children's shoes to clothing and accessories.
So, Da Bao founded Times Remake in 2019, which accepts secondhand clothing and transforms it into new fashion items. In a workshop of the company in Shanghai, used jeans and sweatshirts are being reshaped into new fashion pieces. Designer Zhang Na runs Reclothing Bank, a company that produces clothing, bags, and other accessories from materials like plastic bottles, fishing nets, and flour sacks.
Recycled Clothing More Expensive Than Fast-Fashion Products
Bao Yang, a student, was browsing in Zhang's Shanghai store. She admits that sustainable clothing does not sell easily among her generation. "People in our age group are more into Fast Fashion or don't consider the sustainability of clothing," she says.
Recycled clothing pieces, sold in stores like Reclothing Bank, have a much higher price tag than Fast-Fashion brands because the production methods are more expensive. And that's the real problem, explains Sheng Lu, a fashion studies professor at the University of Delaware. Studies have shown time and again that consumers are not willing to pay more for clothing made from recycled materials, Lu says. Instead, they expect a lower price.
Therefore, he doesn't believe that sustainable fashion will gain wider acceptance in China, where clothing can be produced so cheaply. Only if China's communist leadership sees economic potential in this area and supports the industry accordingly, something could change, Lu explains. But for now, the cotton yarn spools, which are loaded onto trucks outside the factory in Wenzhou, are all being shipped to foreign markets.
Despite China's aim for carbon neutrality by 2060 and the increase in sustainability focus among young entrepreneurs, the government's ban on reprocessing old clothing and the preference for fast fashion hinder the recycling of textiles in China. This prohibition on recycled cotton for new clothing production means that factories like Wenzhou Tianchang Textile Company can only export their recycled cotton products.
The high cost of producing recycled clothing is another hurdle, making it less appealing to consumers compared to fast-fashion products. This price disparity is a significant challenge in promotion of sustainable fashion, as consumers in China generally expect lower prices for clothing.
Recycling human rights concerns also arise when considering textile waste, especially regarding the use of forced labor in synthetic goods production, which accounts for 70% of textile sales in China. Brands like Shein and Temu, operating globally, contribute to the problem with their environmentally damaging and non-reusable fashion items.
