SUSTAINABLE fashion and textile recycling are all the rage these days. 

From eco-friendly designers creating haute couture fashion out of recycled plastic bottles to high street stores running garment collection programmes, everyone’s cleaning up their act. 

The reality, however, is that after decades of talking about it, clothes recycling isn’t working.

Globally, some 92 million tons of textile waste is created annually from the fashion industry, the vast bulk of which is burned or buried. 

At the same time, the rise of fast fashion means we’re buying more clothes than ever and wearing them fewer times. 

By 2030, if the global population continues to rise, the mountain of textile waste is likely to increase by 60 per cent.

Some companies such as H&M and Zara have focused on improving the collection of used clothes, while others are investing in the development of non-conventional fibres that reduce the burden on natural resources. 

Scotland’s Climate Week, which ended on Sunday on the back of a new Climate Change Bill that commits Scotland to be net zero for all greenhouse gases by 2045, reflects the urgency that people feel. 

It’s clear, however, that when it comes to reducing the negative impact of the fashion industry, the existing solutions are nowhere near enough. 

Even the big players are finding progress slow, and almost one-third of the fashion industry has yet to take any action at all, according to the recent Pulse of the Fashion Industry report. 

A 2019 EU study found only half of all used clothes end up being recycled and less than 1% is recycled back into clothing.  What is needed is a whole new concept of managing recycling in the new economy.

Two things that hinder recycling is firstly, the technology to do it efficiently, in a circular way where recyclable materials re-enter the manufacturing cycle as raw ingredients; and, secondly, the absence of a platform where information is recorded accurately. 

The labelling on clothes provides little or no information and because the raw materials and then the finished garments will often pass through multiple parties, there are inevitably blind spots in the end-to-end chain from production to sale.

Reliable and easily accessible information is paramount to accurate sorting of collected goods for recycling, enabling the re-use of raw resources and thus generating equilibrium. 

Studies show if we could double the number of times a garment could be worn, then emissions would be 44% lower. 

Synthetic “plastic” fibres like polyester, nylon and acrylic currently make up about two-thirds of the global fibre market and are technically recyclable, in as much as plastic polymers can be recycled. 

Being able to identify each of these treads in a garment – whether they are cotton, linen, polyester or blends – enables them to be sorted into well-defined material streams so they can re-enter the economy; rather than ending up as waste once they are no longer wanted.

As the founder of a tech company, I am fascinated by how new technology can bring about real change in the fashion industry. 

The tech we’re using invisibly marks raw materials at a molecular level from the original source across three life cycles: raw material to production, production to commercial, and commercial to recycling. 

The numerous, multi-layered data is then securely stored on blockchain. 

Currently, we’re trialling the use of these ecological “markers” into seeds to provide additional protection for the agriculture industry. 

Since it marks the molecular matter of raw materials, the same technology can be used in the fashion industry. 

Pure materials can be recaptured, allowing brand owners to recycle them – thus converting a linear economy to a circular one.

There is also an added benefit in that this kind of tech will allow fashion brands to combat the $1.8 trillion that global businesses lose to counterfeit goods and, with the markers on raw materials, textiles and finished garments stored on blockchain, the company is able to lodge a credible carbon credit claim.

The fashion industry’s commercial ecosystem is locked in a battle that consists of many fronts. 

Just as we cannot live without plastics, we cannot live without fashion. 
The Scottish textiles industry alone is worth £956 million to the Scottish economy and has an ambition to grow by 50% by 2020. 

As Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pointed out, we can’t treat plastic as an enemy; what’s needed is appropriate management of our waste and search for solutions through innovation.

This is the time where we need to develop new and better ways of recycling. No-one can bring change alone. For fashion to be truly sustainable, everyone needs to be on board.

Haggai Alon is founder and CEO of Security Matters Ltd, an Australian-listed Israeli tech company that has trademarked intelligence on things (IOT2) to bring supply chain transparency and brand integrity.