Australians are the second largest consumer of textiles per capita worldwide and consume twice the global average of textiles. Each year, eight million units of unwanted clothing go to Australian charitable organisations each year, who struggle with the challenges and costs of disposing of poor-quality clothing unfit for resale. Only 27% of donated clothing is resold in Australia; the remainder is exported abroad or sent to landfill. it is estimated that 227,000 tonnes of clothing go into landfill annually, generating methane gas emissions and leaching toxic chemicals and dyes into the groundwater and soil. These issues are driving a growing sentiment amongst Australian stakeholders and leadership for a shift towards applying sustainable and circular economy principles to the sector. Western Australia’s Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030 recognises textile waste as a focus material in “becoming a sustainable, low-waste, circular economy”, however currently lists no strategies, actions, or targets to achieve this.
This presentation describes TAFE at the heart of action in a West Australian response to the pressing issue of textile waste and a response to the National Clothing Product Stewardship agenda https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/protection/waste/product-stewardship/textile-waste-roundtable. The presentation follows the 12-month collaboration between South Metropolitan TAFE, Curtin University and WA social enterprise Fibre Economy, and the research and project outcomes of this collaboration. These include The State of Fashion & Textile Circularity in WA Report https://research.curtin.edu.au/research-areas/sustainable-development/the-circular-economy/; the geolocation of WA textile and clothing stakeholders on an Ecosystem Map https://bit.ly/3YjXXcQ; a response to the review of Western Australia’s Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030; a Closing the Loop on Clothing Industry Forum for 80 stakeholder participants; and an international journal article submission. This collaboration has started a much needed local conversation as a starting point for focussed interventions that address textile waste and build pathways to circularity in clothing and textiles.