THE CHALLENGE

Textiles are an essential aspect of daily life, encompassing a diverse range of products ranging from clothing, footwear, towels, bedlinen, and upholstery to healthcare items and industrial materials. The existing textile production, distribution, and use system is linear, with most textiles being used for a limited time before ending up as waste, which is often disposed of in landfills or incinerated. Currently, less than half of all used clothing is collected for reuse or recycling, while only 1% is transformed into new clothing (Guillot, 2023). Furthermore, the fashion industry is estimated to contribute 10% of global carbon emissions, which is more than international flights and maritime shipping combined (Guillot, 2023). Ireland generates approximately 170,000 tonnes of post-consumer textile waste per year (EPA, 2021), corresponding to about 35 kg per capita, which is greater than the reported European Union (EU) average of 26 kg per person per year (EPA, 2021).

THE CIRCULAR OPPORTUNITY

In the process of road construction, natural cellulose fibres (made from wood) are commonly added to asphalt mixes to minimise binder drain-down (Aljubory et al., 2021). Binder drain- down occurs when the asphalt separates from the aggregate particles and flows downward when exposed to high temperatures during the mixing and laying processes. This can affect the overall performance and durability of the road.

In the textile industry, a significant amount of cellulose is wasted in the form of used cotton clothing, sheeting, and towels. Using this source of cellulose for road construction reduces the quantity of textile waste going to landfill, saves funding, lowers carbon emissions from cellulose importation, and decreases deforestation.

ABOUT USEDFULLY

UsedFULLY develops industrial scale textile waste-to-value solutions. The fully scalable technology converts large volumes of waste textiles into higher value products through proprietary processes and formulas that utilise continuous, solvent-free ambient-temperature methods. UsedFULLY’s flagship product is StrengthTex®, a fit-for-purpose cellulose replacement product for roads and the construction industry. UsedFULLY successfully utilised StrengthTex® in May 2022 on a central city road in Wellington, New Zealand.

In another use for textile waste UsedFULLY, in partnership with Moral Fibre and Air New Zealand, created recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from polyester clothing. PET is a recyclable plastic commonly used to produce disposable beverage bottles. They transformed the Air New Zealand staff uniforms into recycled PET which can then be used as a raw material for products from furniture to keyboard keys thereby reducing the need to produce plastic from virgin materials.

UsedFULLY also offers additional services including:

• A platform that generates data on the environmental and financial impacts of clothing at end-of-use for optimal resource management. Textiles and clothing are registered on the platform, and when garments are decommissioned, the UsedFULLY platform connects these resources to their solutions generating metrics on volumes reused and the associated environmental impacts.

• Fibre scanning equipment that uses spectroscopy to validate the composition of textiles, using a handheld scanner. This small device can test, validate, and provide reports on the composition of textiles and fibres.

REPLICABILITY

Each year, 99% of used clothing goes to waste representing a loss of more than USD $100 billion in resources (UNEP, 2023). Shifting to circular business models is critical for reducing the environmental and climate change impacts of textiles saving on raw materials, energy, water and land consumption, emissions, and waste (EEA, 2022).

Other Irish company’s making a business from used textiles include:

Cirtex, a CIRCULEIRE member producing thermal and acoustic insulation, bedding and furniture padding, water retention growth pads, and flooring and carpet underlay from used mattresses.

OCEANR, an Irish company that manufactures clothing out of plastics collected from the ocean.

Titanic Denim, based in Belfast, creates luxury bespoke garments using reclaimed denim and textiles.