A charity has announced plans to recycle used polyester clothing so that it can be used to make new clothes, claiming that this is the first project of its kind.
At its facility in Kettering, Northamptonshire, the Salvation Army hopes the "circular" technology will lessen the waste of clothing.
The project estimated that the UK generates more than 0.5 million tonnes of polyester textile waste each year.
"The future of fashion," according to Project Re:claim's Majonne Frost.
The Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd. (SATCoL), the business arm of the Christian organization that operates a network of charity shops, said that when your favorite sweater wears out, they will take it and turn it into polyester pellets, ready to be turned back into a new sweater. Ms. Frost is head of environment and sustainability at SATCoL.
Most of the polyester waste produced in the UK is currently burned or dumped in landfills.
The Project Plan B, a company that makes clothing from recycled materials, and SATCoL have partnered.
At its donation drop-off locations, The Salvation Army receives millions of donated articles of clothing.
There are frequently polyester-made clothing items that are too damaged for us to sell, according to Ms. Frost.
"Fashion is going in this direction. " .
At SATCoL's plant in Kettering, a machine made by Project Plan B will be installed. According to the company, Fibersort, the UK's only automated textile sorting system, already resides there.
In order to create polyester pellets, which can be used to make new textiles and ultimately new clothing, Project Plan B will now install the necessary machinery.
We need a fundamental shift in the way clothing is created, according to Tim Cross, CEO of Project Plan B.
"One of the best opportunities to lessen the negative effects of clothing production is polyester textile recycling. " .
It was anticipated that the new pellet manufacturing facility would recycle about 2,500 tonnes in its first year, and 5,000 tonnes the following year.
