The Textile Lab for Circularity is excited to introduce an important collaborative partner: Fashion Takes Action.
Fashion Takes Action (FTA) is a non-profit organization established in 2007 to advance sustainability in the fashion industry through education, awareness, research and collaboration. They have gained global recognition over the last year through their successful WEAR Webinar Series, and the release of their latest report A Feasibility Study of Textile Recycling in Canada. Here at the Textile Lab for Circularity we are all about collaboration, and scaling existing projects that move the dial towards textile circularity. FTA Founder and Executive Director Kelly Drennan sits on the TLC’s expert advisory panel, and when we heard they were running a textile recycling project in Eastern Canada, we knew we wanted to get involved. We are currently exploring ways to work with them, help them scale, and bring learnings back to the West Coast.
Fashion Takes Action’s feasibility study makes a strong case for a mechanical textile recycling pilot project in Canada. We know the textile waste problem is severe in the Vancouver region, with 22,000 tonnes landfilled each year. The problem is only magnified nationwide, with conservative estimates suggesting 500,000 tonnes landfilled from Canada’s residential sector alone. FTA’s report outlines that while a large portion of this material can be reused or repaired, about 22% still requires recycling. That is enough material to feed multiple recycling facilities. Knowing all of this, FTA conducted a comprehensive technical review to compare potential recycling technologies. It was determined that mechanical recycling was the most feasible in the short term, when compared to other technologies such as chemical recycling and sorting. Mechanical recycling can be piloted at a smaller scale, taking advantage of existing Canadian infrastructure, and avoiding the use of harmful chemicals. As of writing this, Fashion Takes Action has officially secured the funding required to facilitate a mechanical recycling pilot for polyester textile waste!
Fashion Takes Action will be running a small scale mechanical recycling pilot for polyester textile waste, starting in Fall 2021 in Ontario and Quebec. This is the next step towards fully understanding the opportunity, getting clear on costs and potential end markets. The project will act as a proof of concept to encourage industry adoption of recycling, and inform future legislation. Alongside the pilot, FTA is convening a Stakeholder Learning Group of brands, textile collectors, sorters and municipalities from across the country, to disseminate learnings, and set a vision for scaling recycling technologies across Canada.
The TLC sees an exciting opportunity to learn from FTA’s work, and scale the impact of their pilot nationally by bringing learnings into our programs, and co-producing knowledge products.
Stay tuned for our next blog post, outlining the key steps FTA took to build this pilot project!
Interested in learning more?
Read the Feasibility Study
Follow FTA on LinkedIn
Subscribe to TLC’s Newsletter
References:
Fashion Takes Action, 2021, Feasibility Study of Textile Recycling in Canada, by Kelly Drennan, Sabine Weber, Colin Jacob-Vaillancourt, Anika Kozlowski, and Laurence Fiset-Sauvageau.