Closing the Circulatory Gap in Clothing

The circular economy is a system where materials never become waste and nature is regenerated. Materials and objects are kept in circulation through maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, recycling, and composting. According to a recent Circularity Gap Report commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications Ireland has the second-highest rate per capita textile and clothing waste in the EU, at more than 100,000 tonnes. A staggering 42,000 tonnes of clothing is discarded as household waste in the general bin (Environmental Protection Agency).
What sustainable steps can be taken towards reducing clothing waste?
Curbing consumption ranks as a first step.
Repairing and repurposing, once the most usual way of keeping clothes in circulation, might be making a comeback.
Reselling and consigning, including clothes swaps and online reselling, is fashionable.
Change Clothes, for example, is a community hub in Thomas Street Dublin for swapping, upcycling, mending and sharing, while clothes swap parties and events are gaining momentum. Vintage and online reselling of clothes accounts for circa 1,500 tonnes each year.
Donating to Charity Shops is a very common method of closing the circularity gap in clothing. It is important that the donors also purchase from the Charity shops thereby contributing to closing the circular ecomony. In 2022 charity shops sold 7.3 million garments.
Clothing sales through charity shops as well as online reselling and clothes swappng are likely to increase as we move to a more circular approach to fashion shopping.