Indra,
End-of-life clothing. It's those shirts or leggings that are damaged or stained. They can't be donated. No one wants them. There's no clear ethical or sustainable option. So what do we do with these items? It's a recurring question, and so far, there haven't been any good choices.
The problem has been getting worse over time. The fast-fashion industry pumps out approximately 100 billion clothing items every year — a number that keeps climbing. It gets even worse when we consider what these clothes are made of. Fast-fashion garments rely predominantly on fossil fuels to create their clothing, prioritizing man-made synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon. At this point, experts estimate that 70% of clothing is made with synthetics.
There's no clear way to recycle or reuse polyester and nylon clothing. It can't be composted. It's difficult to turn into rags for cleaning because it's non-absorbent. And when these items are in less-than-perfect conditions, thrift stores and charity shops don't want them.
As a result, most of these worn-out clothes are either incinerated — which is as bad for air pollution as coal-burning — or sent off to giant landfills in the Global South.
That's people are joining the #TakeItBack movement in the UK, forcing corporations to come face-to-face with the mess they've made. Customers are mailing their used synthetic garments back to the shops that sold the items and asking: "What's your plan to deal with all this waste you created?"
Luckily, the EU is set to act on this crisis. It's preparing to implement something called "Extended Producer Responsibility" (EPR) within the next few years, requiring producers to take accountability for their waste. This will put the burden back where it belongs — with the producers who created these items to begin with. The UK must follow the EU's lead and mandate EPR as well! Sign the petition now!
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