Most clothes end up in the garbage

Published 30 May 2024 at 10.58

Domestic. The consumption of new textiles increases every year, but used still makes up a very small proportion of what is bought, a new study shows. We also throw almost twice as much textiles in the garbage as we leave for reuse.

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– About a third of the clothes and textiles we have in the wardrobe are not used or are used very rarely. That's twice as much as we leave for reuse. There is great potential for increased collection, says Jurate Miliute-Plepiene, researcher at IVL Swedish Environmental Institute.

In the project, researchers at IVL have analyzed textile flows – from purchase, use and reuse to final waste management in order to identify where the greatest losses and the potential for increased reuse are in our society.

– The study is unique as it is the first of its kind to explore and compare the role of reuse in relation to the total consumption, use and waste flows. We mainly collected data from our partners in the project, including municipalities and charities, says Jurate Miliute-Plepiene in a dispatch.

The most important results from the data analysis are as follows:

– The consumption of new textiles increase every year. The consumption of used goods is also increasing, but despite the fact that textile purchases are the most common purchase of used goods, it still makes up less than five to seven percent of new purchases.

– Almost a third of what we have in the wardrobe is not used or used very rarely. That's twice as much as we leave for reuse. There is great potential for increased collection.

– We throw almost twice as much textiles in the garbage for incineration than we leave for reuse. Four out of ten garments thrown in the kitchen waste could have been reused.

– Collection channels affect the quality of reused textiles. What is left directly to recycling operators, or other staffed channels, is usually of higher quality. Leaving textiles in collection boxes and containers with waste operators often means poorer quality as more is destroyed by moisture or contamination.

– Only about a fifth of collected textiles are reused in Sweden, while the rest are exported to other markets. This is due, among other things, to high costs for manual sorting for re-use, lack of demand for used clothes in Sweden and a greater demand, such as in the Baltic countries and Poland.