Today, only a tiny fraction of discarded textiles are recycled. While the clothing industry has doubled production in the last 15 years, the amount of time clothes are worn has fallen by more than 30%. At the same time, the growing demand for low-cost fast fashion is driving down the quality of materials, making them harder to reuse or recycle. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, an estimated 114 million tonnes of textile waste is generated each year. Of the clothing collected for recycling, 12% is down-cycled into lower-value applications such as insulation, and less than 1% is used to make new clothing in a closed-loop circular economy.
