Is the new plastic clothes used?

We go with some devastating data: 40% of the clothes we have in the cabinets are not used in a whole year and it is estimated that each citizen discards between 20 and 30 kilos of textile annually.According to the most recent reports, 110 were collected in Spain.000 tons of textile waste in 2019.Does it seem a lot, right?Well, barely represents more than 10% of what we generate in our homes.

Of everything we do not wear and we do not want (although it is in good condition), only one tenth is selectively recovered to promote its reuse or recycled.The rest is thrown into other fractions and finally ends in a landfill.

The selective clothing collection is still the ugly duckling, although it has a lot of potential to enjoy a second life: 50% can be reused and more than 35%, recycle.Therefore, it is important that clothes are deposited in a clothing container - if we find it, because there are very few on the street compared to the rest of fractions -.It is obvious, but almost 90% of the textile residue does not end at the appropriate collection point.

On World Environment Day, we must highlight the environmental benefit of textile waste recovery and management: prevents thousands of tons from ending up landfills and therefore avoids the emission of greenhouse gases.The consequent residue prevention decreases the consumption of natural resources such as water or fossil fuels, as well as fertilizers and pesticides used in the production of raw materials for the textile industry.

No less important are the social benefits that derive from effective management: on the one hand, the creation of green employment;on the other, the social function that entities as human fulfill, whose resources are destined for social projects.

Given this scenario, there is a long way to go.Both administrations and the different agents of the sector want to respond to the sustainable development challenges that it poses.First, the new waste law, pending approved this year, determines that all municipalities must establish a separate collection for textile residue before 2025 - today they are not obliged to do so - which will give a greatimpulse to recovery figures.