Wasted Textiles

The primary objective of this project is to reduce the use of synthetic textiles and the amount that goes to waste.

Wasted Textiles is a collaborative project and the primary objective is to reduce the use of synthetic textiles and the amount that goes to waste. The project is led by Ingun Grimstad Klepp at SIFO/OsloMet and received funding of NOK 12,000,000 from the Research Council of Norway and Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund, out of a total budget of NOK 16,000,000.

The use of plastic has increased rapidly over the last 50 years and today synthetic textiles make up at least 60 percent of the global fibre production. Synthetics spreads microplastics and the textiles pollute nature and wildlife and are problematic in waste treatment. The project will increase knowledge about synthetic textiles in clothing and other products such as hygiene products, toys, sports equipment and more.

Wasted Textiles will start by mapping all textiles that go out of use in households. It is the textiles at this stage we refer to as “wasted”, and which can end up in many different waste streams, forgotten in storage or even lost in nature. From this point in the product’s life, we will look backwards and forwards in the value chain and ask:

  1. What do wasted textiles consist of, how and why is textile waste generated and how are textiles disposed of?
  2. How much textiles, especially synthetic, are wasted in Norway?
  3. How can consumption of synthetic textiles be minimised, replaced or utilised to reduce synthetic wasted textiles?
  4. What are the environmental, economic and societal impacts of circular economy strategies for consumption and disposal of synthetic textiles?
  5. Which regulatory measures can be implemented and be feasible in reducing the volume of synthetic textile waste?

The five questions each have their own work package. The work package leaders are Kirsi Laitala from SIFO/OsloMet, Frode Syversen from Mepex Consult, Kjersti Kviseth from Norwegian Fashion & Textile Agenda (NF&TA), and Susie Jahren and Moana Simas from SINTEF. Jens Måge from Avfall Norge leads the project’s steering group. Other important partners are Fretex, the Norwegian Consumer Council and the Future in Our Hands, Kerli Kant Hvass and Tone Tobiasson, as well as member companies in Avfall Norge and NF&TA and the Faculty of Technology, Art and Design at OsloMet. The project thus brings together the entire clothing sector in Norway: production, design, use and disposal.

Participants at SIFO

  • Ingun Grimstad Klepp
  • Kirsi Laitala
  • Anna Schytte Sigaard
  • Marie Hebrok
  • Nina Heidenstrøm
  • Vilde Haugrønning
  • Lisbeth Løvbak Berg

Partners

  • SINTEF
  • Faculty of Technology, Art and Design, OsloMet
  • Avfall Norge with member companies
  • Mepex Consult
  • Norwegian Fashion & Textile Agenda (NF&TA)
  • Fretex
  • Norwegian Consumer Council
  • Future in Our Hands
  • Tone Skårdal Tobiasson
  • Kerli Kant Hvass


News

Microplastics or microfibers: Does anyone really get what this is about?

OPINION: What we do know, is that all synthetic clothing and materials, sooner or later, will become microplastics, a «time-delayed» pollution bomb. And thus, they will ultimately become a problem for seabirds, and us. A new report on microfibers in waterways is gaining attention, as it claims the results show more natural fibers than synthetic ones,…

Continue Reading Microplastics or microfibers: Does anyone really get what this is about?

Questions related to the TPR proposal

The Wasted Textiles team have had many meetings with policy-makers, politicians, NGOs, textile industry representatives and other interested parties regarding our Targeted Producer Responsibility proposal. We have collected questions we have been asked and here you will find the answers to these questions. If you have other questions, feel free to send them to us,…

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New briefing outlining research behind the TPR proposal

During a meeting earlier this year with a team from the European Commission Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans’ office, the authors of this new paper were asked to supply more background on the Targeted Producer Responsibility they presented. As the first step in supplying more research-based data and knowledge, the paper…

Continue Reading New briefing outlining research behind the TPR proposal

Critical background paper on PEF for apparel and footwear

This week saw the publication of a critical background paper on concerns surrounding the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules for Apparel and Footwear from a consortium representing the collaborative international research project Wasted Textiles at Consumption Research Norway SIFO at Oslo Metropolitan University. The consortium were asked to supply more background information to the EU Commission after a knowledge sharing meeting January 25 hosted by…

Continue Reading Critical background paper on PEF for apparel and footwear

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