Fabric waste is the material that is deemed unusable for its original purpose by the owner. Fabric waste can include fashion and textile waste, created during fibre, textile and clothing production and consumer waste, created during consumer use and disposal.
These days we often live in a wasteful society. Many homes, textiles factories, shops, boutique, tailor shops ends up disposing lot of waste clothes and fabrics even though they are reusable. Textile is an environmentally damaging process. Textiles consume vast quantities of natural resources like water, oil and land. They use toxic chemicals and generate large amount of carbon dioxide.
We would be astonished to note that Fabric / Textile waste contributes to more than 50% of our dry waste generated annually. It takes more than 8k litres of water to make a pair of denim. The amount of water required to make t-shirt can suffice a man's water need for more than a month.
Unfortunately, millions of tonnes of pre and post-consumer textiles are discarded every year. Not only does fabric waste pollute our environment and clog landfills around the world, but the precious resources that went into making these fabrics are wasted.
Pre-Consumer Fabric Waste:
Textile Swatch Waste - leftover textile samples
Cut-and-sew textile waste - textile scraps generated during garment manufacturing
Sampling yardage waste - leftover from textile sample manufacturing
Damaged textile waste - unfinished textiles that have been damaged, like color or print defect
Clothing sample waste - clothing samples which have not be worn by consumers
Cutting - the process where the fabric is cut following a pattern shape
Post-Consumer Fabric Waste:
Clothes Waste - Used and discarded by consumers
Second hand textile waste - Any non-clothing waste such as home furnishings, that have been used and discarded by consumers
There is no such thing as 'Away"
When we throw anything away, it must go somewhere
-Annie Leonard