European and American textile fiber waste processing trends

In the past few decades, the waste fabrics in the United States and Western Europe were particularly large. The main reason was that many garments or other textiles were disposed of as rubbish after being used once. Only a small number of foresights realized that textile fiber waste or used clothing is far from garbage. According to reports, the earliest Warner Bros. or other Hollywood tycoons made their first pot of gold when they immigrated from Europe to the United States.

Twenty-five years ago, the textile industry in the world gradually realized that textile fiber waste could actually become the second raw material resource. In the 90s of last century, some textile media reporters visited a textile fiber waste recycling company in Spain. They found that the company had to recycle 200 tons of textile fiber waste every day! They even use money to purchase textile fiber waste from all European countries and also from countries outside Europe.

After the Second World War, the international recycling industry was in the ascendant. People realized that an international organization was needed to support the development of the recycling industry. For this reason, in 1948, the International Recycling Bureau was established (the Bureau of International Recycling, BIR). Initially, it was only a non-profit organization. Its headquarters is located in Brussels, Belgium. Its main purpose is to improve the interests of the global recycling community. Along with this, they provided information, legal text and latest technology to all recycling markets and institutions in the world, and used waste materials including waste paper and waste textiles. The organization regards this matter as its own responsibility and contributes to the sustainable development of the world industry and economic prosperity.

Twenty years later, textile waste collection has become a large independent industry. Textile fiber waste recycling is almost everywhere. BIR experts predict that if all textile fiber waste is recycled, at least half of the waste can be reused. Today, the sustainability of the textile industry has become the key to development. According to BIR calculations, if 60 million people in the UK purchase a garment made from recycled waste each year, then the United Kingdom can save 1,600, 000 million liters of water each year, and use less 480 tons of chemical dyes. This figure is shocking. But in fact, about 50% of the developed countries in the world have recycled textiles or used textiles to less developed countries. In many African countries, over 80% of the population wears second-hand clothing. More than half of Western waste clothing is used to donate or illegally export to less developed countries. Today, Western European and American textile waste recycling companies have mushroomed. Among them, BIR has several textile fiber waste recycling companies that participate in textile recycling worldwide. For this reason, the recycling price of textile fiber waste is also increasing. In the United States, the price of used textile fiber waste actually increased by 10% to 25%. Worryingly, under the general trend of recycling of textile waste, some Western companies have made cheap acquisitions under the banner of “charity” and “donate”. A textile recycling company in the United Kingdom used recycled machinery to recycle waste textiles and even used illegal methods to participate in market competition. The National Bureau of Anti-Intelligence Fraud in the UK has also started a nationwide investigation. They have to find out exactly how many textile waste recycling companies are profiting under the banner of “charity”. In France, textile recycling companies are stealing and plundering each other. The recycling of waste textile fibers has grown from non-profit to today's profit-making industry. As a result, more and more companies are involved, and the recycling methods are varied and varied.

Textile recycling has not only become a commercialized economic activity, but also belongs to an environmentally friendly ecological industry. Therefore, it has received the most enthusiasm. The BIR Institute conducted a study at the University of Copenhagen in Sweden in 2008 and concluded that for every 1 kg of waste textiles used, 3.6 kg of CO2 emissions can be reduced, saving 6000 L of water and reducing the use of 0.3 kg of chemical fertilizers and 0.2 kg of pesticides. The recycling of waste textiles by the textile industry is a significant trend. Compared with the processing and production of raw materials, this trend has significantly reduced carbon dioxide emissions. As a result, BIR called on people not to waste wasted textile fibers. Now it has become the real value of sustainable development. Reusing or recycling waste textiles is most conducive to the environment needed by future generations.