The project ‘Textile Symbiosis – Textile leftover and waste as a resource’ has the goal to ensure the best possible use of textile resources. This is in preparation for when Denmark starts household textile waste collection in 2022. The project is a collaboration with the municipality of Herning, a group of central players and 25 local businesses. Together we will identify and test innovative systems that can motivate and inspire new circular business models to create a smaller environmental footprint for the sector. Furthermore, the project will produce recommendations for legislation, research, and development of new recycling solutions. We aim to test innovative solutions within the circular thinking.
Textile Symbiosis Herning is a two-year project (2021-2022), supported by 9,05 million from the European Regional Fund and DKK 3.44 million from the decentralized business funds.
Objective and background
In a few years, all Danish citizens must sort textiles separately along with other types of waste and recycling. Within this project we have a common wish, that none of these textiles are being burned, as we have seen with previous recycling fractions. As a nation, Denmark have committed itself to lower its CO2 emissions with 70% by 2030. If the waste area is not changed radically, it will account for 5,7% of the national CO2 emissions by 2030. Preventing textile waste from ending up in incineration plants, has a great potential to help the national goal of 70% reduction; If you recycle 1 ton of textile waste (instead of burning it) it is estimated that it leads to a reduction of 20,4-ton CO2e. Therefore, it is important, not just for the environment but also for business, that we solve the problem of textile waste.
Together with the municipality of Herning, a group of central players and 25 businesses, we aim to create a strategy for textile waste in the region. A strategy that can serve as a pilot project for the nation.
The city of Herning has a long and proud history of being the danish textile center, and this project might be the next chapter in that history. With the project we have the optimal conditions to ensure collaboration and that no textiles are burned.
This project will involve knowledge about:
- Quantities, fractions, and barriers to textile collection
- Circular potentials of the collected textiles within resale and recycling
- The environmental benefits of a systemic look at the entire value chain
- Recommendations of necessary systems and technologies to create a circular system.
Alle projektpartnere +
Here we have compiled warious research papers relevant to the project. Some are in English while others are in Danish
Cirkular business models:
- The future of circular fashion; accessing the viability of circular business models, Fashion for good (2019) – læs rapport her
- Secondhand and leasing markets – læs rapport her
Collecting and sorting:
- Mod 2025: Erfaring med seperat indsamling og behandling af tekstiler – et nabotjek (2020) – læs rapport her
- An environmental assessment of the collection, reuse, recycling and disposal of
clothing and household textile waste, Nynne Nørup phD (2019) – læs afhandling her
- Planning a Swedish collection and sorting plant for used textiles, Borås Universitet (2019) – læs rapport her
- Materialgjenvinningsmuligheter for tekstiler i IVAR-området (2020) – læs rapport her
- Fibersort (2020) – se præsentation her
- SIPTex (2020) – se præsentation her
- Research and identification of textile plants in the Nordic countries & Europe – focusing on fiber- to- fiber recycling for the fashion & textile industry, Lifestyle & Design Cluster (2020) – læs rapport her
- Guidence for fashion companies on design recycling, Mistra Fashion (2019) – læs rapport her
- Re: Mix – Separation and recycling of textile waste fiber blends, Mistra Fashion (2017) – læs rapport her
- LCA on recycling blended fiber fabrics, Mistra Fashion (2019) – læs rapport her