Swedish municipalities have been flooded with discarded garments since a brand new EU legislation entered into drive.
Sweden recycling facilities are full of garments after a prohibition of all the EU this 12 months by throwing textiles, leaving the overwhelmed municipalities anxious as a result of quick trend giants are accountable.
“It’s a great amount that comes on daily basis. It has been loopy, it’s a nice improve,” stated Brian Kelly, basic secretary of the Artikel2 charity retailer in Stockholm, the place container rows had been full of discarded garments.
Because the starting of this 12 months, EU international locations will need to have a separate textile recycling, along with current processes for glass, paper and meals waste.
The target is to advertise round waste administration, the place textiles are labeled and reused, or recycled if they don’t seem to be too broken.
“We’ve got seen a rise of 60% within the textiles collected in January and February of this 12 months in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months,” stated Karin Sundin, an professional in textile waste within the waste and recycling administration firm of the town of Stockholm, Stockholm Vatten Och Avfall.
As soon as textiles are labeled, between 60 and 70% is designated for reuse, and 20 to 30% for recycling similar to filling, insulation or composite supplies.
Round 7 to 10% is burned by power, in keeping with the Sweden Environmental Safety Company.
That may be a nice enchancment earlier than the brand new legislation, in keeping with specialists, who level out that discarded garments used to systematically incinerate itself.
Nice volumes
Nevertheless, lack of infrastructure in Sweden implies that used garments are largely exported overseas, primarily to Lithuania, the place they’re labeled, reused or burned by power.
“We would not have the big classification crops that may put the whole lot in worth in the identical means that they’ve finished in Japanese Europe, for instance,” stated Sundin.
“The reason being that it’s so laborious (Y) prices some huge cash,” he informed AFP a tour of the Ostberga Recycling Middle in South Stockholm.
The Swedes throw 90,000 tons of textiles per 12 months, or 10 kilograms (22 kilos) per particular person, in keeping with Swedish society for nature conservation.
The EU common is 19 kilograms, in keeping with the statistics of 2022, in comparison with 17 in 2019, they confirmed information from the European Atmosphere Company.
The clothes trade additionally pollutes the atmosphere.
To make a shirt that weighs 135 grams (four.76 ounces), 2,500 liters (660 gallons) of water and a kilogram (2.2 kilos) of chemical substances are wanted, stated Yvonne Augustsson, advisor to the Swedish environmental safety company.
“Meaning greenhouse gasoline emissions of about two to 5 kilos,” he stated.
“In Sweden, a clothes article is used on common 30 instances. For those who double this to 60 instances, which appears affordable, reduces the climatic affect by half,” he stated.
The textile classification in Sweden is managed by municipalities, a lot of which have been overloaded by the quantities acquired because the introduction of the brand new legislation.
Within the scarcely populated north, some cities, similar to Kiruna, proceed to incinerate textiles as a result of they don’t have to take the articles.
Quick trend giants, similar to H&M and Zara, are anticipated to finally play a job within the administration of waste that assist generate, and negotiations are in progress at European stage to find out their accountability.
In keeping with a preliminary settlement, the EU member states reached in February, clothes giants might be answerable for the top of the lifetime of the merchandise they promote, required to pay for assortment, classification, reuse and recycling.
ATTITUDE CHANGE
The thought is to encourage quick trend retailers to supply “clothes designed to last more,” stated Augustsson.
The Swedish model H&M informed AFP that he welcomed the actions in that path.
Shoppers additionally want to alter their mentality.
Every particular person should “purchase not more than 5 new clothes objects per 12 months,” stated Beatrice Rindevall, head of Sweden society for nature conservation, which frequently organizes clothes swaps.
Within the metropolis of Linkoping on a sunny spring day, an alternate of clothes on a scholar campus had racks with the whole lot from a powerful pink jacket with feathered sleeves to denims, baggage and scratched t -shirts.
“Folks may give us garments in good situation that they not put on (and) alternate it for one thing else,” stated the volunteer Eva Vollmer.
“We concentrate on creating the answer so that individuals actually have another.”
© 2025 AFP
Quotation: Sweden drowned in discarded quick trend components (2025, April 11) accessed April 13, 2025
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