According to statistics from National Environment Agency (NEA), Singapore generated 156,700 tonnes of textile and leather waste. (This includes clothing, linen material and bags.) But out of this amount, only an alarming 12,500 tonnes or 8% of it was recycled!

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The textile waste that is not properly separated for recycling or reuse is incinerated and thrown into the landfill. This is extremely harmful to the environment, as decomposing clothing releases methane, a harmful greenhouse gas that has a huge effect on global warming. There are also chemicals and dyes in fabric that seep into the soil, contaminating surface and groundwater.

 

What’s more, textile waste creates a huge space issue. Textile waste clogs up our landfills, and takes up way too much of Singapore’s already limited space. The worst part is, this textile waste could be reused or repurposed to create something useful through upcycling!