The Ministry of Environment is drafting measures to encourage clothing brands to use singular and recyclable materials, as well as establishing a “clothing-to-clothing” chemical recycling model as textile waste fast fashion exacerbates the problem of textile waste.
Domestic used clothing stations across the nation saw volumes increase from about 37,000 tonnes in 2013 to 82,000 in 2022, ministry data showed.
About 36 percent of the used clothes went straight to incinerators, 22 percent were downcycled and 42 percent went to second-hand donation facilities, the ministry said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Environment
Taiwan can recycle used clothing fibers and use those fibers to make new clothing, but the process is more complicated if the clothes used multiple materials, Lee Yi-hua (李宜樺), head of the ministry’s Sustainable Consumption and Recycling Division, said on Saturday.
The ministry is trying to encourage clothing brand manufacturers to begin using single types of materials, preferably recycled materials, when making clothing items, Lee added.
The ministry is also urging clothing distributors to offer recycling, remaking or “shared clothing” services, and is mulling a general ban on distributors destroying any excess clothing in storage, he said.
It also hopes that distributors would be willing to sell second-hand clothing, he added.
The ministry is considering standards, to be available as early as next month, that would offer official suggestions for “green” clothing options for sectors that need to place large orders for uniforms, such as banks or transportation companies.
However, Shu-Te University Department of Fashion Design professor Chu Wei-cheng (朱維政) said that making clothing entirely from one material was more difficult.
Blending polyester fibers and cottons makes for more comfortable and fashionable wear, Chu said, adding that clothes often need to include metallic objects in the form of buttons or zippers.
The clothing recycling industry would only benefit when polyester fibers become as skin-friendly as 100 percent cotton materials, absolving the need to mix fabrics, he said.
Asked for comment, clothing manufacturers said there are multiple processes involved when a piece of clothing is recycled, meaning that recycled materials are about 30 percent more expensive than original materials.
Consumers might not be as willing to buy clothes when that cost is reflected in the selling price, a manufacturer said, adding that sourcing enough used clothes for a “clothing to clothing” recycling system might be a problem.
Despite the difficulties, clothing manufacturers beginning to incorporate recycled materials is an international trend, and the clothing industry would have to come up with solutions to address the issue, the manufacturer said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS