Great Lakes Circular Materials Roundtable: : Textiles - Sep. 1, 2020
Overview
Our third Great Lakes Circular Materials Roundtable was hosted in early September 2020 and focused on textiles. Here's a quick recap, and some key takeaways and observations from our team:
Presentations were provided by these speakers:
Janay Brower, Founder/President at Public Thread
Nick Carlson, Vice President of Donated Goods Operations at Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids
Marisa Adler, Senior Consultant at Resource Recycling Systems
Kari Bliss, Customer Experience & Sustainability at PADNOS
Madeline Miller, CEO & Founder at NexTiles
Key Takeaways
Textile waste is growing at an alarmingly fast pace compared to all other waste streams. This volume cannot be sustained by current systems for recovery, redistribution and reprocessing. Additionally, textiles remain an environmental hazard as they can easily escape from collection processes and landfills and contribute to harmful landfill off-gassing.
Technological advances like AI, machine learning and RFID tracking could allow MRFs to better handle textile streams, but material innovation and end-market development will be crucial.
Technology has already enabled businesses and organizations like Goodwill Industries to expand online selling of valuable textile items, but resellers remain limited by the labor costs and social elements of growing operations. Additionally, materials without a secondary market like soiled upholstery and mattresses are increasing in volume with little growth in end-market solutions.
Material processors like PADNOS have been systematically receiving materials that meet volume, density and sanitation standards. However, diverse material streams that include fixed plastic components or rubber composition materials continue to pose challenges.
Material up-cyclers like Public Thread are demonstrating profitable business cases for products made from textile production scraps. Innovative partnerships directly with manufacturers producing scrap materials are expanding market opportunities and driving value through the supply chain.
Innovators are demonstrating new applications for materials processed from textile waste like NexTiles who creates blown-in insulation from natural fiber materials. Scientist and innovators continue to search for applications for synthetic textiles and those with complex material compositions.
Action Items
Solutions proposed during breakout sessions included ways the Materials Marketplace can help businesses and organizations:
Help our team better understand the market by creating listings for textiles as an available material.
For companies that can process textiles, create wanted listings with your detailed spec requirements.
Start conversations with organizations that have textiles as available material and/or those that can process them as wanted materials.
