Overview
The post-consumer textile sector is in a state of upheaval triggered by economic, ecological, regulatory and geopolitical challenges. Switzerland, with its high level of textile consumption, has a responsibility to meet these challenges adequately. Recently, the Swiss Textile Federation and seven Swiss brands founded the profit-oriented association Fabric Loop to introduce an extended producer responsibility fee for textiles, along the lines of the EU. To date, the reprocessing of used textiles has been subject to governmental control. In this dynamic field of friction, an Innosuisse project is to develop and test consensual solutions for a sustainable circular system for end-of-life textiles. The current IDN project provides the missing elements for a successful Innosuisse application: a best-practice analysis of existing waste systems, implementation partners from the textile industry, and municipalities that are committed to the research project as a pilot region.
In spring 2024, the research group Products & Textiles developed the framework for a new call for tenders for the collection and sorting concession for the city of Zurich.[1] The aim of the project was to analyse the problems of the used textile sector and to design future circular collection, sorting and processing systems. The recommendations address the most urgent challenges, such as transparency, the integration of new technologies and actors, the utilisation of circular use cascades, social participation and the financing of future-proof structures.[2]
Due to the current developments mentioned above, the market dynamics are to be examined in a timely manner by identifying best practice examples of today's waste systems and comparing them with the post-consumer textile sector and pilot municipalities/pilot regions. This will result in an Innosuisse proposal to bring together stakeholders from the private and public sectors (PPP) to ensure consensual solutions for circular post-consumer textile utilisation in an ecological and economical way.
The following research questions will be addressed in the IDN project:
- Which best practice examples of recycling systems can be identified (electronic waste, packaging, PET as an industry solution or aluminium, glass, paper as part of the public sector's collection)?
- What insights can be derived from the best practice examples for the used textiles sector?
- Which public and private sector stakeholders are necessary to carry out a meaningful pilot within an Innosuisse project as a public-private partnership (PPP)?
[1] In Kooperation mit Entsorgung & Recycling Zürich (ERZ) sowie dem Amt für Abfall, Wasser, Energie & Luft des Kantons Zürich (AWEL)
[2] Vgl. auch die Vision aus der Publikation Wege hin zu einem zirkulären Verwertungssystem für Alttextilien (Adler et al., 2024).
