New old clothing containers in Hamburg: No more textile waste!

New old clothing containers in Hamburg: No more textile waste!

Today, a step towards sustainable textile culture is being taken in Hamburg: the city cleaning service has set up new old clothing containers to improve the disposal of broken clothing. There are currently more than 20 depot containers in the city, and there will be up to 30 in total. The project is initially scheduled to last two years with the aim of seeing fewer textiles in household waste. This initiative is aimed primarily at citizens, as damaged items of clothing, such as jeans with holes, can also be placed in the new containers. However, heavily soiled parts should be taken directly to the recycling center.

Every week, two to three tons of unusable clothing end up in the hands of the German Red Cross, which takes care of disposal in Hamburg. The collected textiles then find their way to a textile recycler who sorts them. Usable parts are reused, for example as cleaning rags, while unusable textiles are burned. This process is an important step in reducing the huge amount of textile waste generated annually.

The global dimension of fast fashion

While more sustainability is being ensured in Hamburg, Greenpeace urges caution when dealing with textile waste. Viola Wohlgemuth, a resource conservation expert at Greenpeace, has urgently pointed out the catastrophic effects of fast fashion. The situation is particularly problematic in East Africa, where old clothes arrive from Europe. In cities like Arusha, up to 40 percent of the clothing items delivered are broken, which poses major challenges for the local population. The overproduction of textiles not only creates waste, but also significantly damages the environment, as can be seen in Nairobi: the Nairobi River there, once a source of drinking water, is now heavily polluted and not immune to odors.

Greenpeace is therefore calling for a legal ban on textile waste exports and a global textile tax to make production more sustainable. At the end of the day, it's about ensuring that new textiles are durable, non-toxic and recyclable. The focus should also be on second-hand goods in order to protect resources and avoid waste. By 2030, 10 percent of German city centers should be available for alternative forms of consumption, as Greenpeace propagates.

EU policy and the responsibility of manufacturers

A lot is also happening at the European level with regard to textile waste. The European Parliament has introduced measures to reduce dangerous chemicals in textiles and support sustainable consumer choices. Manufacturers are asked to take responsibility for their products, even if they become waste. New proposals to revise the waste directive are to be presented in March 2024 in order to use the collected textiles more efficiently.

In this initiative, MPs are pushing for textiles to be collected separately by January 1, 2025, with the aim of drastically reducing the amount of textile waste. One aspect that is particularly important here is the establishment of extended producer responsibility systems. In the future, manufacturers of textiles, shoes and accessories will have to bear the costs of collection, sorting and recycling - a real paradigm shift that could have a lasting impact on the industry.

Overall, it is clear that major steps are being taken both in Hamburg and at European level to counteract the textile waste crisis. A sustainable future in the textile sector is only possible if consumers, organizations and the industry work hand in hand.

You can find more information on these topics at NDR, Greenpeace and European Parliament.