From visiting the Pickens Recycling Facility, I learned about the operations as well as the impacts of recycling. When we think of recycling, we almost always just think of materials such as plastic, paper, glass and so on…. never usually clothing. Recycling seems great in itself but in terms of it actually making a difference depends on the people who use the system. For example, Greenville county doesn’t recycle glass unless it is dropped off because it isn’t economically profitable. This obviously goes the same for recycling clothing, but there is a market for it.
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s we learned from the Recycling center, recycled plastic can be turned into polyester and therefore clothing. Sustainable clothing could potentially be the next big thing. But, while it seems like a cool idea, more manual labor would have to go into the making of it therefore making it more expensive. Because it is more expensive, it wouldn’t appeal to the same audience as a store like Forever 21 would even though it would have a better life span and be made with good intentions.
Sustainable clothing recycling isn’t the only process that can make an impact; clothing doesn’t always end at a landfill. There are two other ways in which clothing may be recycled besides being mechanically recycled into raw materials: resold by the primary consumer to other consumers at a lower price or it may be exported in bulk for sale in a developing country. Consignment and thrift shops, sites like Ebay, and donation charities are all examples of how we can salvage clothing for a second life, at least. While there are some lazy and careless people out there, a 2006 survey has shown that 12-15% of Americans shop at consignment or resale stores. The Council for Textile Recycling estimates that 2.5 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste (anything made of fabric) is thus collected and prevented from entering directly into the waste stream (Luz 2007). For some middle and upper-class civilians, shopping at these types of establishments is uncommon as they have the resources to shop at other places, but would make a great impact on the waste system.
Citation:
Claudio, L. (2007). Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(9), A448-A454.