Every year an estimated 300,000 tonnes of clothing goes to landfill in the UK alone. This absolutely doesn’t have to be the case – there are so many options to keep clothes in use and out of the bin, no matter how worn they may be.
Most governments don’t make it easy for us to reuse, repair and recycle unwanted clothing and textiles. Unfortunately, this is one area where there are very few laws, regulations or governmental initiatives that tackle fashion’s escalating textile waste issue. Curbside textile and clothing recycling exists only in a few cities. In other words, you can’t easily recycle your textiles at home. Although in some places charities will come and collect unwanted items from your home. Few governments provide incentives or make it easy to repair clothing and textiles. One example is Sweden, whose government proposed a 50% tax break for repairs on shoes, clothes and bicycles.