New study identifies opportunities for increasing textile circularity in the Baltics | WPN World People News

The Baltic states have a good starting point for integrating more circularity into the clothing and textile industry. Consumption levels of new textiles are significantly lower than, for example, in the Nordic countries and the purchase of second-hand clothing is an established element of household consumption. Second-hand textiles make up 29% of total consumption in Latvia and Lithuania and 16% in Estonia.

Moreover, the region has significant sorting and processing facilities for used textiles with a focus on reuse that, with the right incentives and political will, could be developed to also process non-reusable textiles for emerging recycling markets. The Baltic states import over 90,000 tonnes of used textiles per year, which are processed for reuse both in the Baltics and in export markets. Up to one quarter of these imports come from the Nordic countries. As such, the Baltic region is an important element in the circular economy of Nordic textiles. However, the collection of used textiles from households in the Baltic region is underdeveloped.

By 2025 all EU member states will be obliged to separately collect used household textiles for reuse or recycling, and this applies also for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Source: Stockholm Environment Institute