Analysis of the management of textile waste at full scale in Italy

The EU generated 7Mt of textile waste in 2020, 70% ending up in mixed household waste and only 30% destined to reuse and recycling. Fast fashion, the dominant source of textile waste, is associated to well-known environmental and social impacts, as nowadays the dominant fate of textile waste involves foreign countries hosting landfills or second-hand markets. The EU policies on Circular Economy, aligned with SDG12, introduced specific actions to improve the sustainability of textiles, supporting the use of recyclable and recycled materials, Extended Producer Responsibility and mandatory separate collection systems for textile waste in all member states from 2025. Separate collection of textile waste has been recently implemented in Italy, and this study aims to understand the barriers and status of textile waste management in a country that is significant and representative in the EU context. Firstly, a literature survey identified the technical, economic and social factors that affect the implementation of separate collection systems effectively fostering the circularity of textiles. Lack of citizens awareness, logistic infrastructure and automation are key issues. Secondly, it investigated textile waste management at full scale, with specific focus on what happens after separate collection, based on the analysis of the operations implemented in 21 Italian companies. Data collection happened through questionnaires, on site visits and interviews with the technical staff. The companies were inventoried according to a set of indicators referring to inflow type (pre- and post-consumer) and amount, number of phases and process implemented (manual or automated, sorting and/or mechanical recycling) and outflow type. The results of the study were: 50% of interviewed companies process pre-consumer textile waste, usually well sorted based on type of fibre and color, and effectively recycled into fibres or insulating materials; companies managing post-consumer textile waste produce outflows partly destined to foreign markets, as second-hand garments and as industrial rags or fillers but mostly directed to disposal in landfills or incinerators. Several initiatives fostering textiles circularity have been identified, all at lab/small company scale. In conclusion, a better design of textile waste management infrastructure is highly necessary in Italy, involving all stakeholders, to promote Circular Economy and minimise exports to developing/underdeveloped countries. This study was carried out within the MICS (Made in Italy – Circular and Sustainable) Extended Partnership and received funding from Next-GenerationEU (Italian PNRR – M4 C2, Invest 1.3 – D.D. 1551.11-10-2022, PE00000004).