New association wants to introduce a clothing recycling system in Switzerland
Published: Tuesday, Nov 12th 2024, 15:20
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Seven companies from the textile and clothing industry founded the Fabric Loop association on Tuesday. This association aims to boost the circular economy in the industry with an early recycling contribution.
The aim is to make the reuse, repair and recycling of textiles commonplace in Switzerland, as the association announced on Tuesday. The founding companies are Calida, Mammut, Odlo, Pkz, Radys, Switcher and Workfashion.
The vision of those involved is a holistic system that starts at the production stage. Advance recycling contributions when purchasing a product should enable infrastructure, technologies and services for this. It is not yet possible to determine how high these contributions will be, as the costs of closing the loop must first be calculated.
Harmonization with EU system planned
According to Fabric Loop, the planned Swiss system should also be harmonized with the EU market so that cross-border cooperation would be possible. In the longer term, all market participants - including foreign online platforms in particular - should also co-finance the system.
According to the newly founded association, industry solutions such as these are to be introduced across the board in the European Union (EU) from 2026. Companies in all member states would be held more accountable by this EU textile strategy, and this would also affect companies from third countries such as Switzerland that deliver to the EU.
PET recycling system as a role model
In Switzerland, the aim is also to take inspiration from the successful PET recycling system, which has enabled plastic bottles to be collected, sorted and recycled across the country. "We don't want to reinvent the wheel, but rather build on what already exists where it works," said Nina Bachmann from the Swiss industry association Swiss Textiles, which is supporting the project.
However, preparatory work is needed before such an industry solution can be launched. The Fabric Loop association wants to develop the legal and organizational foundations for this in the coming year 2025. Other companies are also to be won over to the project and the business model further developed.
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