led annually in the UK is estimated to be 250,000 tonnes.
Severn Waste Management, the contract operators for waste management within the Hereford and Worcestershire districts retained no corroborative data to support their claim that 400 tonnes of textiles from its collection points in the Pershore area was actually recycled.
There were no statistics available either from any of the major charities regarding the percentage of its clothing, unsuitable ‘for sale’, getting recycled, or specifically its exact destination.
Potential destinations for recycled textiles:
- Abroad – to be worn typically in developing nations
- Home – to be reused, as is resold or handed down
- Reprocessing – fibre content broken down to be reused – Khadi Board – Backpack Canvas
- Rags – to be used in various industries
Households donating unsuitable items for resale in this country might simply be offsetting the problem of locked in chemical land fill to another country.
Or delaying the time for that garment to become unusable in this country then be irresponsible disposed of; turned to rags which, once used are unsuitable for reprocessing, contaminated and incinerated or land filled.
- Of the garments not sold in the shops, 70 per cent are sold overseas. Good quality, second-hand clothing is packed for export sale to more than 18 countries.
- The majority goes to Africa, where there is huge demand for quality, affordable, second-hand clothing.
- Another 25 per cent of items collected are recycled for the fibre content, or for use as mattress filling or as industrial wiper cloths.
- Only five per cent ends up as unusable ‘waste’.9
Reprocessing of Recycled / Reclaimed fabric – making Khadi
The nature of textile design means that in any taken sample of donated or collected textiles a vast range of fibre types will be found.
As a recycling solution this presents a problem, immediately meaning that sorting needs to be extensive, usually involving a human and manual element. The nature of clothing and fashion also predisposes the articles to be embellished with a variety of items.
- Closing devices – zippers, poppers, studs, hooks, Velcro
- Interlinings – padding and structural stiffeners
- Linings – fillings – Khadi Backpack Lining
Once the articles have been sorted they must have all embellishments removed, they can then be broken into fibres of varying qualities.
Where does it go?
This ‘raw’ material is used in a variety of situations, some applications of which are somewhat secretive, dependant on the level of sorting at process these include:
- To ‘bulk up’ Virgin materials in the production of yarns – Khadi Hand spinning in Kolkata India – e.g. Canvas for backpacks
- Khadi Board – canvas and cloth for backpacks
- For the production of Felt – straps and padding
- Carpet backing yarn
- For car muffling felts
- For mattress and other stuffing applications
How much is produced?
It has not been possible to ascertain the exact production levels of this shoddy. The remaining processing plant in the UK handles over 1000 tonnes of shoddy per year11. The total UK production levels are maintained by this one company, Cullingworth Summers & Co, who recently suffered from a fire destroying half the plant.
This area is in general decline; historically the shoddy trade dealt with faulty material from the mills, and as such could maintain a higher level of quality. With the methods employed by the mills, this is a much rarer occurrence, and the majority of what becomes shod is obtained through charity and council collections.
How can the resultant recycled fibres be improved?
By introducing a logical, systematic collection of textiles, and by public awareness exercises the processing and sorting of garments could be speeded up. An industry body should be held responsible, and textile manufacturers should be encouraged to participate. Garment adornment should be analysed for compatibility with this process. Adding value to any reclaimed fibres is important – making products that have a long and lasting life cycle – such as tough and well made backpacks is just 