Textile Recycling Association warns of impending collapse in the UK

The Textile Recycling Association (TRA) has raised concerns about the future of the textile recycling industry due to global market challenges. TRA President Dawn Dungate expressed worry that processing companies reaching capacity might lead to difficulties in collecting textiles from community banks, recycling centers, and charity shops.

Issues like unfavorable exchange rates, political unrest, and delays in obtaining goods in certain countries have made it hard for UK plants to sell collected apparel. Over time, stored textiles have increased due to the rise of fast fashion, leaving limited space for sorting and storage.

The TRA anticipates further problems if European nations also face challenges in classifying textiles and lack outlets for their products. The influx of low-quality textiles from fast fashion has raised operating costs for recycling facilities, as they cannot efficiently turn them into new clothes on a large scale.

TRA President Dungate suggested gathering excess fast-fashion textiles, but this wouldn’t benefit the textile recycling industry significantly. They suggest government intervention through industry regulations and extended producer responsibility to address these challenges.