Cotton waste recycling can save $500m a year: study

Bangladesh can save $500 million a year by recycling the cotton waste as garment factories and textile millers produce a huge volume of leftovers of the key raw material, according to a study.

The findings of the study, carried out by the Circular Fashion Partnership, were revealed at a virtual discussion yesterday. Policy-makers and fashion industry executives were present at the event hosted by the platform, a project that promotes recycled materials in fashion.

If 100 per cent of cotton waste is recycled in Bangladesh, imports could decrease by around 15 per cent, therefore saving half a billion US Dollar that would have been spent on cotton imports, the report said, according to a press release of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

In 2019, garment and fabrics mills produced about 577,000 tonnes of waste, almost half of which was 100 per cent pure cotton waste.

It is estimated that factories could sell the cotton waste to the recycling market for up to $100 million.

The Circular Fashion Partnership is a cross-sectorial project led by the Global Fashion Agenda, in partnership with Reverse Resources and the BGMEA.

It aims to support the development of the textile recycling industry in Bangladesh by capturing and directing post-production fashion waste back into the production of new fashion products.

Bangladesh heavily relies on imports for textile fibre. It imported 1.63 million tonnes of staple cotton fibre worth about $3.5 billion in 2019.

Speaking at the event, Faruque Hassan, president of the BGMEA, said, "The sustenance of the planet is now at risk, and we cannot stay indifferent. We have to shift the linear economic model to circular."

"This is the future, and we are committed to closing the loop while achieving our strategic growth targets," he said.

Federica Marchionni, chief executive officer of the Global Fashion Agenda, said: "In order for fashion to continue to prosper within planetary boundaries, we need to embrace the opportunities of a circular economy urgently."

A circular economy is a systemic approach to economic development designed to benefit businesses, society, and the environment.

"Using the Reverse Resources technology platform, we have been able to map participants' textile waste to grasp its scale and quantify the economic opportunity of closing the loop," Marchionni said.

Nin Castle, chief project officer of Reverse Resources, said Bangladesh produced arguably the most recyclable textile waste of any apparel producing country.

With the emergence of new and improved versions of existing recycling technologies, Bangladesh has a huge opportunity to scale its local recycling capacity and reduce its dependency on virgin raw materials.

"If a recycling industry is fostered now, it will enable the country not only to enjoy the obvious benefits of cost and carbon footprint reduction but also gain a massive competitive edge," Castle said.