The TRA said that a combination of factors was creating the “perfect storm”, putting the UK textile recycling sector on the brink of collapse, with operators in danger of being unable to afford to collect and move on material.

WRAP’s Textiles Market Situation Report 2024, published last month, found that the value of recovered textiles from banks and charities had fallen massively in the last decade to £172.50 and £255 per tonne, respectively.

Equivalent figures for 2013 were £406 and £432 per tonne, with the price drop primarily due to a high volume of lower quality clothing.

But TRA said its members are also reporting significant falls in the value of some textile categories more recently. As well as poor quality material, increased operating costs, diminishing export markets and payment issues were all affecting how much collectors can pay for material.

“Part of the reason is the quality because people are dumping clothes they bought during Covid, and also the liquidity in the market has completely gone. Warehouses are full of rags that cannot be sold,” said TRA business development manager Mohammed Patel,

The TRA and WRAP have noted that the quality of recovered textiles has dropped in the wake of the increasing popularity of fast fashion, a trend that accelerated during the pandemic.

“Ultra-fast fashion has caused a major problem,” said Patel. “There is no value in products from some of those retailers. Even if the clothing is practically brand new, nobody wants to pay to take it.”

Conflicts across the globe are affecting economies and export markets, while the cost of shipping containers has increased dramatically as a result of re-routing vessels following the disruption in the Red Sea.

Some export destinations are requiring a bill of lading – acknowledging receipt of cargo for shipment – to be sent to banks, which then contact the customer for payment, meaning that suppliers could be waiting for up to six weeks for funds to be released.

“If the collector has to wait three months to get paid, they can’t afford to collect and buy textiles,” Patel said.

The TRA warned that, as a result of low-value material, cash flow problems and full warehouses, many sector operators would soon no longer be able to operate.

“You can try to collect and sell at a discounted rate, to motivate the end user markets to buy that material at a lower price, so that it generates transactions and people will start seeing liquidity again,” continued Patel. “But charity shop rags are now worse quality than textile banks and the reality is that if the situation does not change, soon it is going to be worth nothing because no-one is going to collect it.”

The TRA has called on the Government to regulate the sector and introduce extended producer responsibility.

Failing to collect waste textiles would also have “devastating environmental consequences”, including microplastic pollution, water pollution and the accumulation of textile waste in landfills, it said.

Fuente: Materials Recycling World