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The bottom of the closet takes up too much space, and it is wasteful to discard it directly. How to deal with old clothes is a problem that almost every family will face. Data show that about 26 million tons of old clothes are thrown into the garbage can every year in our country.

Old clothes recycling is the people's livelihood and environmental protection needs, but also contains a huge market space. According to a survey conducted by the China Circular Economy Association, the recycling rate of used clothes is still less than 1%. Where is the difficulty in recycling old clothes and how to crack it? The reporter conducted an investigation into this.

　　Why is it difficult to recycle old clothes?

Compared with China's annual textile fiber processing capacity of more than 50 million tons and the clothing market of more than one trillion yuan, old clothes do not seem to be mentioned much. However, this piece of clothing hidden in the corner of the wardrobe reflects the more embarrassing status quo--

According to data from the China Circular Economy Association, about 26 million tons of old clothes are thrown into the trash can every year in my country. If these old clothes are disposed of by incineration, it will cause waste and pollution; if they are landfilled, it will affect the soil.

Recycling old clothes is imperative. Although many communities have recycling bins and many families have begun to try accordingly, the recycling rate is less than 1%. Among them, there are few textiles that can be used for secondary use of recycled fibers, and it is difficult to fundamentally realize recycling.

Why is it so hard to recycle old clothes?

First is the cost. Jiang Shicheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that there are usually four ways to recycle old clothes: mechanical, physical, chemical and thermal energy. It is ideal to chemically reduce to the molecular level and regenerate the fiber. However, the production cost of this method is relatively high, and large-scale production is still limited.

Second is the idea. The reporter's investigation found that many people tend to donate old clothes, and even recycling is mostly for public welfare, making it difficult to accept commercial use. Fewer people accept recycled fiber products than recycling.

Sun Huaibin, vice president of the China Textile Industry Federation, said that in some European and American countries, the use of recycled fiber products is more common, including ZARA, GAP and other brands have corresponding product lines. Even if the price is slightly higher, there are many fans. In our country, there is still a lack of understanding of recycled fiber products, and many people think that the textiles made from it are not clean and safe.

"Influenced by the concept, these international brands rarely launch recycled fiber series in domestic stores." An industry insider said.

The most important thing is the business model. "Every link needs the input of commercial power. Compared with donation, the recycling of used clothes depends on a more complete system." An old clothing recycling practitioner said that at present, the industrial chain is long, the link cost is high, it is difficult for enterprises to make profits, and the market is difficult to open.

"In particular, the back-end operation link is not in place, resulting in no export and no industrial cycle." Sun Huaibin said, "Recycled paper has been accepted and popularly used for decades. In contrast, there is a long way to go to recycle old clothes."

　Hundreds of billions of market to be developed

On the one hand, it is a more embarrassing situation, on the other hand, it is the general trend of low-carbon environmental protection and a huge potential market. It is difficult to promote the recycling of old clothes, but it is active in innovation and full of attraction.

The corresponding attempts are beginning. One-click selection, door-to-door collection of clothes, on Alibaba's idle trading platform, the clothes have started a new journey through sorting, transportation, crushing, cotton opening and other links.

Xianyu data shows that since the launch of the corresponding business in March last year, about 24 million old clothes have been recycled. In the past graduation season, about 380000 pieces of clothing from nearly 400 colleges and universities were recycled through idle fish and transformed into car sound insulation cotton, greenhouse insulation cotton and recycled cloth.

Cao Cao travel joint old clothes environmental protection public welfare platform jointly launched the "old clothes recycling plan". Build a recycling transportation network through shared travel and other methods, and dynamically track the recycling process.

"The large-scale user base determines that the platform can do large-scale public welfare and commercial exploration." Zhu Xingxiang, president of the China Circular economy Association, believes that information technology can improve the efficiency of resource utilization, solve management problems such as tracing the source of the whole process, and explore models such as sharing and co-creation, so that more people can participate in it. The "Internet" provides a new way of thinking to promote the use of social idle resources.

From making clothes to recycling clothes, some textile and garment enterprises are also giving full play to the advantages of the industrial chain to promote the recycling of old clothes.

"Waste underwear consists of 17 parts, hooks, loops and steel rings belong to recyclable garbage, while shoulder straps and straps belong to dry garbage..." The underwear brand adores issuing recycling environmental protection action in the mall of official website, popularizing the classification of waste clothing garbage, and uniting logistics, decomposition and other manufacturers to launch underwear recycling action nationwide through recycling coupons and other ways.

Degradation treatment, fabric development, printing and dyeing textile, logistics and warehousing... Around the industrial chain, a series of technology and mode innovation are also being carried out.

"The recycling and reuse of waste textiles is not only an environmental protection project, but also a new economy and new kinetic energy, which will give birth to a 100 billion yuan industry." Jiang Shicheng said.

　　Strengthen management to eliminate "blind spots"

The recycling of used clothes is a good thing for people's livelihood, and it is also a cutting-edge industry. To continue to advance healthily, it is still necessary to improve policies, encourage innovation, and standardize management.

First of all, it is necessary to clarify who will collect and how to collect the corresponding subjects and standards. The reporter found that at present, the recycling of used clothes has just started. Except for the participation of some big brands and platforms, most of them are entrepreneurial enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises. The division of labor, cooperation, and coordination in the industrial chain still need to be standardized and clear.

For example, many communities have set up recycling bins, but how to manage them and how to track them are still unclear.

"Whether the recycling bin can be put, where it can be put, who will take care of it after it is released, and who to find if there is a problem, all need to be further clarified." Xu Yan, a resident of Chaoyang District in Beijing, hopes to clarify the regulatory authorities and management standards as soon as possible, set up qualifications and thresholds, so as to achieve real recovery and prevent some illegal traders from reselling for profit.

Secondly, we should manage and support the development of the industry to better encourage innovation.

At present, the main way of recycling old clothes is to convert to the secondary use of recycled fiber. However, the preferential policies for the corresponding industries of renewable resources have not yet covered the field of waste textiles. Although some companies have made breakthroughs in research and development, they lack enthusiasm for production due to high costs and low market recognition of finished products.

Experts suggest that relevant standards should be formulated as soon as possible to ensure the orderly development of old clothing recycling; preferential policies should be given in finance and taxation to encourage enterprises and platform innovation; scientific research on recycling should be encouraged; internal and external supervision should be strengthened to eliminate industry chaos.

In addition, many people suggest to establish a "clear account" for the flow of recycling old clothes, so as to be well documented, eliminate the doubts of the masses, and promote the concept of low-carbon life and scientific environmental protection in the whole society.

(Source: Xinhua)