Recycling news and archive

Crocs expands Takeback Shoe Program across the United States

Footwear brand Crocs has expanded its 'Old Crocs. New Life' shoe takeback program across the nation. Now all Crocs retail and outlet locations in the United States, minus Hawaii and Puerto Rico, feature designated collection boxes where customers can return Crocs footwear in any condition to be upcycled or recycled. Customers can also send back...

Business

Decathlon develops recyclable swimwear with Resortecs

French sporting goods chain Decathlon has teamed up with the Belgian textile recycling company Resortecs to develop a recyclable swimwear collection. The collection addresses the main problem with recycling swimwear to date, which has been that swimwear fabrics usually have high elastane content, but elastane cannot yet be separated from the...

Business |OPINION Featured

Why Earth Day has become largely a marketing gimmick

What do Mother's Day, Valentine's Day and Earth Day have in common? They are all days that highlight something/someone that should go without saying and be celebrated every day of the year - mothers (parents in general), love and our earth. The very existence of such days of remembrance shows that something is amiss - why do mothers need to be...

BusinessFeatured

Chilean artisans and designers create collections with waste from textile landfills

Buenos Aires - Some 44 Chilean designers and artisans are taking part in the Runway Fashion Design challenge, a programme that seeks to reuse garments from textile dumps in the Tarapacá Region, giving them a new life through fashion collections. Runway Fashion Design Tarapacá Circular and Sustainable was created by Johana Fernández, a commercial...

Business

UK Textile Recycling Association calls for regulation, warns of sector’s collapse

The UK’s Textile Recycling Association (TRA) is calling on the government to introduce regulations similar to ones brought to the EU in an attempt to avoid the “imminent collapse of the textile recycling sector”. The trade organisation, which oversees 75 percent of the region’s used textiles collectors and sorters, said that due to “global...

BusinessFeatured

Sustainability in fashion: highlights from January to March 2024

In the first quarter of 2024, much happened again in terms of sustainability efforts in the textile and apparel sector and related industries. For example, there was a lot to read - you should not miss the important reports mentioned below, changes in legislation, interviews conducted by FashionUnited with industry pioneers, as well as...

Podcast

Podcast: Everything you need to know about denim recycling

Curious about the world of denim recycling? Dutch fashion designer Sina Steidinger talks more about recycling denim in this episode of the podcast 'Circular Textile Stories'. The creative (with a degree in fashion design) specialises in circular textile innovation. As such, she has worked on several international projects aimed at giving new...

Business

6 Recycling innovations that could change fashion

The fashion industry's enormous waste problem is pushing governments, particularly in Europe, towards ambitious recycling targets. The problem is that recycling textiles is a highly complex task and technical solutions are still in their infancy. NGOs warn the real problem is over-production, and that tech innovations may just provide cover for...

Fashion

Anthropologie extends denim recycling scheme with Blue Jeans Go Green

Lifestyle retailer Anthropologie has teamed up with Cotton Incorporated's Blue Jeans Go Green program to launch a new denim recycling initiative. From February 5 onwards, Anthropologie customers are invited to bring their used denim to any of Anthropologie's US retail locations. All old denim will then be recycled into insulating material that...

BusinessFeatured

Fashion and sustainability in 2023

FashionUnited has been summarising the fashion industry's efforts towards greater sustainability month by month for five years now. Reason enough to take a look back over the years before drawing conclusions for 2023. While 2019 was characterised by individual efforts, such as the development of recyclable and more environmentally friendly...

Business

Fashion and sustainability in December 2023

Towards the end of the year, the fashion industry stepped up its sustainability efforts once again: These were discussed at the COP28 climate conference, among others, but various studies also scrutinised supposedly sustainable initiatives such as biomass and textile collections for recycling purposes. Textile-to-textile recycling received a...

FashionPress Release

YKK’s New DynaPel Water-Repellant Zipper Wins Best Product in ISPO Textrends Competition

The ISPO Textrends judges have selected YKK's DynaPel™ water-repellent zipper as the Best Product in the accessories category. The competition, held twice a year in conjunction with the ISPO trade show, recognizes the most innovative performance textiles, components, and apparel. Designed to be compatible with garment recycling systems, the...