Is circular fashion the answer to clothes waste?

What in the World

• Episode: Is circular fashion the answer to clothes waste?
• Website: What in the World
• Feed URL: https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/w13xtvrv.rss
• Duration: 00:14:11
• Published: 2024-01-17 16:10

It’s estimated that a garbage truck full of clothing is being sent to a landfill every second, with less than 1% recycled into new clothes. One way to stop clothes reaching landfill is reusing, repairing and recycling them. This is part of ‘circular fashion’ - where textiles already in circulation are used again and again, instead of producing new ones.

Lots of fashion brands and consumers are trying to make the fashion industry more sustainable. We hear from two projects at the forefront of this. Whitney Speke joins us from Nairobi to tell us how Africa Collect Textiles is tackling clothes waste in Africa. She also shares her views on the 30 wear challenge - which encourages consumers to wear their clothes at least 30 times.

We’re joined by Taylor Greene who works for Circ, a US-based company. Circ’s innovative recycling technology is addressing the fashion industry’s carbon footprint – which accounts for around 8% of global carbon emissions.

Plus, sustainability journalist Sophie Benson explains how apps have helped make sustainable fashion more accessible, and how it might be scaled up in the future.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Mora Morrison and Benita Barden Editors: Julia Ross-Roy and Simon Peeks