Closing the loop: a scalable zero-waste model for apparel reuse and recycling

Shortened lifecycles of apparel products resulting from today’s rapid fashion cycles generate significant amounts of post-consumer textile waste (PCTW) in the form of used or second-hand clothing (SHC). The majority of this waste is not repurposed or recycled, but rather discarded. The present study concentrated on creating an effective, sustainable, and ‘zero-waste’ solution driven by repurposing SHC using both design and production processes to achieve 100% utilisation of PCTW. The steps carried out during the year-long project demonstrated that almost 40% of used clothing waste could be repurposed as new clothing and the remaining waste could be processed further for additional use in non-apparel applications. The proposed solutions represent a closed-loop supply chain that can support new product manufacture, divert textile waste, and enable an additional stream of revenue from reclaimed apparel.