Textiles: 160 thousand tonnes of waste in Italy, a growing trend

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There are 160 thousand tons of textile waste produced in Italy (around 500 million clothes): 80 thousand in the North, 33,500 in the Center and 46,700 in the South. For an average of around 2.7 kg per inhabitant. These are Ispra data relating to 2022 and represent a constantly growing trend: waste was 154 thousand tonnes in 2021, 143 thousand in pandemic 2020. And they are placed in a scenario that sees European citizens generating 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste per year (data from the European Commission), of which only 22% is collected for reuse or recycling. The textile industry consumes large amounts of water and is the second most polluting industry after the oil industry according to the United Nations. According to data from Unctad (the agency dedicated to trade and development), 7,500 liters of water are needed to make a pair of jeans, equal to what a person drinks on average for 7 years. Every year the fashion industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water, enough to satisfy the needs of five million people. year.

3 million European project

For this reason, the European project VERDEinMED, “PreVEnting and ReDucing the tExtiles waste mountain in the MED area”, began its work to reduce textile waste in the Mediterranean region. The initiative is co-financed with almost 3 million euros from the EU Interreg Euro-MED programme.

Legambiente, among the project partners, will play a key role in consumer awareness activities and in promoting social enterprises as actors responsible for the transition towards a more sustainable and circular economy for textile products, which can extend their lifespan through various business models starting from reduction, repair, reuse and collection.

Only 22% recycled

«When we talk about textile waste, in addition to the products related to clothing and footwear that we all perceive, we are also referring to home textiles, technical textiles (ropes or nets) and in general to post-industrial waste, such as fibers and clippings”, explains Andrea Minutolo, scientific director of Legambiente. «In 2019, waste from clothing and footwear alone amounted to 5.2 million tonnes, equivalent to 12 kilograms per person per year in the European Union. Given these quantities, only 22% of post-consumer textile waste, which represents 87% of textile waste, is collected separately mainly to be reused or recycled, while the rest is incinerated or landfilled.”