Four years ago, ABC’s War on Waste host Craig Reucassel stood in front of a 6000 kilogram mountain of clothing in Sydney’s Martin Place. He asked passersby to estimate how long it took Australians to throw out this amount of clothes. Guesses ranged from five years down to two days. The answer – a staggering 10 minutes – illustrated a scary truth: our country has a massive fashion-waste problem.
If the tide has turned since, it’s only marginally. New research by the Australasian Circular Textile Association has confirmed Australia’s textile consumption rate has been underreported. It estimates individual figures of consumption to be close to 41 kilograms per year. This includes clothing and household items like bed linen, curtains and furnishings. Of the textiles that are being discarded, about 80% are destined for landfill.
It presents a huge issue in terms of landfill and carbon emissions. But it’s also an opportunity to capture these wasted
