What is textile waste?
Textile waste is composed of discarded clothing, sheets, curtains and other items made from natural or artificial fibres. When textiles are disposed of in landfills they can pollute the environment through the production of toxic substances and greenhouse gases. In addition, finite natural resources must be consumed to then produce new textiles. Textile recycling can help with both of these issues.
Resources
The lesson plans below contain activities and fact sheets to guide learning
Lesson plan 1:
introduces textile recycling, how it works and why it's important
Lesson plan 2:
introduce chemical recycling and how it can be applied to textile wastE
Did you know?
Approximately one bin lorry of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
tonnes of textile waste is produced in the uk every year
Of the average 3.1 kg of textile waste each Briton produces each year, only 0.7 kg are recycled or reused
206