The fashion industry is no doubt a significant polluter on the planet. Nowadays, fast-fashion brands create new collections according to the season, incorporating fresh fabrics and trending patterns. This entices people to buy more clothes and discard the old ones.
Thankfully, fashion consumers have started growing conscious of the social and environmental impacts of the fashion industry, thus giving impetus to the sustainable fashion industry. With many brands adopting sustainability and circularity models, this has given birth to "Recycled Fashion."
Recycled Fashion in the True Sense
Recycled fashion is a sustainable way of creating recycled products with an innovative approach using existing clothing items or fabrics, plastic, used metals, and damaged car belts, to name a few. Sustainable fashion brands source these materials and deconstruct them to create entirely new and unique pieces.
In simpler terms, it's all about creating a new product out of an existing one, like making a new pair of trousers using an old blazer! Incorporating recycled textiles/materials into creating a new fashion product is one of the most potent methods for fashion labels to reduce their carbon footprint.
This article focuses on the rise of recycling materials in the fashion industry and the many types of recycled materials on hand. So, let's start without batting an eyelid:
1) Types of Recycled Fabrics/Materials:
There are abundant types of recycled fabrics/materials available in the market, and the major ones are:
Recycled Cotton
Cotton is undoubtedly the most used fibre in the fashion industry. It is also harmful to the environment as it uses large amounts of water and energy. Recycled cotton is eco-friendly and is made by recycling post-industrial and post-consumer cotton waste.
Recycled Polyester
Polyester consists of synthetic fibres and is the second most commonly used fabric in the fashion industry. Its production also has the same harmful environmental impacts as traditional cotton. Recycled polyester is made by recycling used/waste polyester fabric and recycled plastic bottles.
Recycled Wool
Wool is no doubt a natural fibre that is renewable and biodegradable. However, its production methods can have negative environmental impacts. Recycled wool is made by recycling post-consumer wool garments and industrial wool waste, thus reducing waste and conserving resources.
Recycled Nylon
Nylon is also synthetic in nature, and its excessive use in the fashion industry leads to massive energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Recycled nylon fabric is derived by recycling post-industrial nylon waste to produce sustainable bags.
Recycled leather
Leather is one of the most harmful fabrics to the planet and its biodiversity. It is a destructive industry as the chemicals used to tan the leather are non-biodegradable and contaminate the whole community. Recycled leather is sustainable and is used to produce recycled leather jackets for men, recycled leather wallets, and even recycled leather bags.
2) Benefits of Recycled Fashion
The significant benefits of recycled fashion are listed below:
- The global fashion industry generates a whopping 92 million tonnes of waste globally per year. Recycled fashion helps reduce waste generation and accumulation in landfills.
· Recycled fashion lessens the demand for virgin materials, thus minimising the amount of waste that ends up in landfills.
· By recycling textiles, it lowers water and energy consumption.
· Recycled fashion works using existing materials. So, there is no need to produce virgin fabrics, thus combating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
· With recycled fashion, sustainable fashion labels can address growing conscious consumer demand and offer more sustainable and eco-fashion alternatives.
Conclusion
We at Upcycleluxe believe that recycled fashion is here to stay and is a pivotal step towards a more steady, sustainable fashion business. Our platform is proud to have renowned, sustainable Indian fashion brands on board, dealing with recycled fashion products, upcycled fashion products, organic clothing, and everything else in the sustainable industry. Shop with us at www.upcycleluxe.com and be the torchbearer for a greener and more sustainable future.
