The Canadians toss away close to 500 million kg of fabric items on a yearly basis including things such as clothing, shoes and toys.
A new study from researchers at the University of Waterloo and Seneca College have arrived at this finding and they hope a grading system will put an end to that.
Professor Olaf Weber, who co-authored the study Textile waste in Ontario, Canada: Opportunities for reuse and recycling said, “Fashion consumption is at an unparalleled high. Consumers buy, use and dispose of new garments, which end up in the landfill, and less than one per cent of the materials are recycled. This new method is an important step to curbing our waste.”
It has been said that the researchers looked at a new method that would grade the clothing from A to F to decide if the garments could be resold, recycled or tossed. A pair of ripped and stained jeans might be given a D grade which could see them repaired before they are donated and resold.
They claim that by looking at the clothing this way, more than half of the textiles could be reused while another quarter could be recycled.
The researchers accept that getting the garments repaired in Canada might raise prices above market value in Canada but that is not always the case.
