MENDING ON DISPLAY is an exploration of how to involve people in mending and have it be incorporated into everyday life. This was done through mending workshops, investigative conversations and a window display exhibiting visibly mended clothes. With all the devastating news reporting on how the planet is rapidly changing for the worse, it’s important to show that there can be joy in striving towards sustainable solutions, and moving away from current fashion culture does not have to mean compromising on your personal expression. The two main collaborations in the project are with the people interacting with it, and the secondhand store Busfrö. For this type of workshop to engage people in mending it needs to regularly occur, a routine space where one can join in for example once a month in the same place. These places exist already but few know about them, we need more of these initiatives in different contexts in order to spread the engagement in the craft. In my work I invited others to join through workshops, but I also felt welcomed into a bigger context and community network where mending is the binding force.

Consumer demands have led to the development of new, more stable textile dyes. These dyes, many of the azo type, are often incompletely degraded/removed in wastewater treatment plants, leading to the discharge of highly colored effluents to rivers and streams. Concerns by downstream users of that water have led to enactment of effluent color and toxicity standards for plants that treat textile dye wastewater. Both anaerobic and aerobic biological degradation of azo dyes have been reported in the literature; the rate and extent of degradation is often quite dye-specific. This research utilized laboratory-scale reactors to investigate the effectiveness of those treatments, both singly and in combination, on two azo dye wastewaters: a textile dyeing and finishing process water and a municipal wastewater consisting predominately of textile dyeing and finishing mill effluents. / Master of Science

The purpose of this master thesis is to address two main ways of dealing with used textile material in Czech Republic. It compares textile material as a component of a household waste with textile material as a component of a segregated waste. The main question that the thesis and the research done within it addresses is whether the costs, associated with textile waste management coming as the result of administrative tools and legislative action plans mounted to it, are not too high. Based on a calculated model of cost structure of both above mentioned variants their comparison could be performed. Analysis of its results pointed out, that under certain given conditions and assumptions the system of segregated waste collection is, despite its higher costs, effective. The outcome of this master thesis is proposed possible scenarios used to optimize textile waste management in the context of economic science methodology, available data and primary research questions.

Den linjära Supply Chain modellen och fenomenet ‘Fast Fashion’ som idag karaktäriserar dagens textilmarknad är av ohållbar natur. För att utvärdera hur resurseffektiva de olika verksamheterna i försörjningskedjan är så skapade Carter och Ellram “avfallshierarkin” år 1998. Under 2008 uppdaterade Europaparlamentet och Europeiska Unionens Råd denna modell till det som idag refereras till som “avfallstrappan”. De olika stegen är utformade för att i en önskvärd ordning, minska mängden bortskaffat textilavfall. Ett steg mot en mer hållbar affärsmodell är implementeringen av en grön försörjningskedja (GSCM). De grundläggande förutsättningarna för att kunna använda avfallstrappan är att insamling och sortering av efter-konsument textilavfall (PtCTW) hanteras korrekt och effektivt. ‘ExtendedProducer Responsibility’ (EPR), innebär att företagen har ansvar för hantering av sitt PtCTW, vilket inkluderar insamlings- och sorteringsprocesser. Detta skapar en omvänd försörjningskedja, ‘reverse logistics’. Den omvända kedjan syftar till att skapa ett slutet materialflöde, vilket resulterar i noll avfall. För att kunna göra det måste nya hållbara återanvändnings- och återvinningsmetoder utvecklas. Undersökningen i denna studie syftar till att kartlägga ny teknik inom området för att få reda på huruvida användningen av dessa kan leda till minskad mängd bortskaffad PtCTW. / The linear supply chain model and the phenomena of fast fashion that today characterizes the textile industry is unsustainable. To evaluate how resource-efficient the various activities in the supply chain management are Carter and Ellram created the Waste Hierarchy in 1998. In 2008 the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union updated this model to what is today referred to as the waste-staircase (“avfallstrappan”). The different steps are designed for how to, in a desirable order, reduce the amount of textile waste disposed. A step towards a more sustainable business model is the implementation of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). The basic prerequisites for using the staircase is that collecting and sorting of post-consumer textile waste (PtCTW) is handled correctly and efficiently. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) entails companies to handle their products post consumer phase, including processes such as collection and sorting. This creates a reverse supply chain, ‘reverse logistics’. This reverse supply chain aims to create a closed material flow, resulting in zero waste. In order to do so, new sustainable reuse- and recycle methods needs to be developed. The survey made in this study aims to map new technologies within the area, in order to find out whether the use of these could result in reduced amount of disposed PtCTW.

The consumption of textiles is increasing more and more, meanwhile there are vigorous efforts both from the textile industry and controlling companies to promote sustainable consumption. A significant amount of textiles discarded in household waste, which is an untapped resource that should be taken advantage of. Two methods to use textile waste is to reuse and recycling it. The reuses of textile materials are today well developed in Sweden, however, there are currently no existing system for recycling textiles. The purpose of this study is to investigate Borås Stad’s textile waste and the textile recycling. The reason I chose Borås is because the city has an old history in the Swedish textile industry and today strives to be in top of the textile innovations. The methods being used in this study are a literature studies and a interview. Borås Stad actively works to encourage the citizens to reuse and recycle their textile waste. The opportunity to recycle textiles is today only in the special collecting boxes. Borås Stad has nowadays, because of size- and economical aspects, not an own developed recycle system for textile waste.

Proper consumer attitude towards textile products and optimal post-consumer waste management of textile waste is connected with many benefits. Despite this fact, little research has been conducted on these topics. Textile waste represented mainly by donated textile from households and its material flow in waste streams mirrors the behaviour of our consumer society as well as new technologies in textile and fashion industry. More information about consumer attitude and behaviour toward textile and textile waste is needed to provide suitable waste management processes according to the hierarchy of waste management, such as re-use and energy recovery, and to ensure sustainable development and minimal impact on the worlds wellbeing. This study takes into account not only waste management of textile waste, but also tries to understand all textile issues in a wider perspective. Particularly fashion industry is connected with many negative ethical aspects (e.g. sweatshops), and many environmental issues are connected with overproduction of lower-quality textile products. Proper handling of post-consumer textile products is only one of the product life cycle stages to be solved. The main goal of this study is to discuss the results of a consumer attitude and behaviour questionnaire toward textile and textile waste from households in the Czech Republic. The study also includes partial hypotheses and an analysis of interest groups as other possible sources of information to form proper textile waste management policy tools and strategies.

Upcycling of textiles is a well-known method to remake worn textiles and decrease the environmental impact coming from the textile industry. Many fast fashion companies have tried to implement upcycling in their own textile value chains to become more circular. Although the effort is good in theory, there is more to be done to get better efficiency when it comes to upcycling textile fashion products. The purpose of this report was to study the obstacles in the textile upcycling chain for small-scaled actors that are engaged in design driven upcycling. This report partly investigates a specific textile value chain that is based on redesigning home textiles that comes from textile consumer waste. The report investigates the collaboration between supplier, designer and manufacturer in this specific value chain. This was by outlining their current communication and process steps. The report intends to form a ground for creation of communication tools for actors working similarly. Re:textile at Science Park Borås is a project that is working towards developing new design principles, business models and production systems in the textile industry for a better circular flow system. The cooperation with Anna Lidström, Artistic Director at Re:textile, made it possible to investigate the upcycling industry and identify the obstacles in the pre-production and production process. For collecting information for this report, data research and interviews with Swedish companies have been done. The companies that attended the interviews were from different companies in the textile upcycling industry, that were provided with as much information as possible for the analysis. The companies that attended the interviews were from different companies in the textile upcycling industry. The companies were Rave Review, XV Production, Björkåfrihet and SIPTex. The information from the interviews contributed a ground for the analysis. The semi-structured interviews varied from telephone interviews and visits. The compilations from the interviews have been carefully used to answer the reports research questions. Conclusions are presented as obstacles for the textile upcycling chain at design driven small-scaled actors. One obstacle is to cater bigger quantities of textile consumer waste that keeps the same quality. Another obstacle is the way of ensuring the quality of the product through the value chain to consumers. The third obstacle is that the communication tools are not written according to any principles which contribute to mistakes in the manufacturing process. / Återbruk av textilier är en väl omtalad metod för att ta vara på använda textilier för att minska på miljöpåverkan som kommer från textilindustrin. Många snabbt modeväxlande företag har försökt implementera återbruk i deras egna värdekedjor för att bli mer cirkulära. Även om tanken är god, så är det mer som behöver göras för att få en bättre effektivitet när det kommer till att återbruka textila modeprodukter. Syftet med rapporten var att undersöka hinder i den textila återbrukskedjan hos småskaliga aktörer som ägnar sig åt designdriven återbruk. Rapporten utreder dels en specifik textil värdekedja som grundar sig på att omdesigna hemtextilier som kommer ifrån textilt konsumentavfall. Rapporten utreder samarbetet mellan leverantör, designer och tillverkare i denna specifika värdekedja. Detta genom att redogöra för deras nuvarande kommunikation och processteg. Studien avser att ligga till grund för skapandet av kommunikationsverktyg för aktörer som arbetar liknande. Re:textile på Science Park Borås är en verksamhet som jobbar med att utveckla nya designmetoder, företagsmodeller samt produktionssystem i textilindustrin för ett bättre cirkulärt flödessystem. Samarbetet med Anna Lidström, Konstnärlig Ledare på Re:textile gjorde det möjligt för författarna att undersöka återbruksindustrin och identifiera bristerna i förproduktion och produktionsprocessen. För insamling av information till denna rapport har datainsamling och intervjuer med svenska företag gjorts. Företagen som ställde upp på intervju var ifrån olika verksamheter i den textila återbruksindustrin. Företagen var Rave Review, XV Production, Björkåfrihet och SIPTex. Information från intervjuerna bidrog till underlag för en analys. De semi-konstruerade intervjuerna varierade med både telefonintervju samt platsbesök. Sammanställningarna från intervjuerna har med aktsamhet använts för få svar på rapportens frågeställningar. Slutsatser redogörs som hinder för den textila återbrukskedjan hos designdrivna småskaliga aktörer. Ett hinder är bland annat att tillgodose större kvantiteter av textilt konsumentavfall som håller samma kvalitet. Ett annat hinder är att säkerställa kvalitén av produkten genom värdekedjan till kund. Ett tredje hinder är att kommunikationsverktygen inte är skrivna enligt några principer vilket bidrar till misstag i tillverkningsprocessen.

Idag förbränns tonvis med textil i Sverige som aldrig har blivit använd. Detta som en effekt av att dagens textilindustri är uppbyggd som en linjär modell där nya råvaror ständigt går in i systemet och avfall lämnar det. Krav ställs nu på nationell nivå i Sverige att textilindustrin måste ställa om och bli cirkulär som en del i att klara klimatmålen. Detta ställer stora krav på svenska företag att hantera det textila restmaterial som uppstår i deras processer på helt nya sätt. För att textilt restmaterial ska kunna bli råvara till en annan produkt behövs nya system och ibland branschöverskridande samarbeten där den enas avfall blir den andres råvara. Denna studie bidrar med insikter om de utmaningar som svenska företag står inför när textila restmaterial ska bli råvara samt hur möjligheter kan tas tillvara genom nätverkande och kunskapsutbyte. Med observationer, en enkät och intervjuer undersöktes textila produktutvecklings- och produktionsföretags behov och hinder för användning av textila restmaterial som råvara. I studien har också de behov av resurser och nätverk företagen har för att kunna öka användandet av textila restströmmar utforskats. Studien visar på att attityden till att samla in textila restströmmar bland producerande företag är positiv och att det finns goda möjligheter för ökad insamling av industriella textila restmaterial med en hög grad av spårbarhet. Den visar också att det för företag som vill använda restmaterial efterlyses möjligheter för effektiv insamling samt bearbetning eller förädling av materialen. Alla delar i värdekedjan behöver ses över och för att möta utmaningen och det finns ett behov av att tänka annorlunda och våga prova nya vägar och samarbeten. Resultatet av denna studie visar på att en plattform för enbart handel av textila restmaterial inte är tillräckligt, företagen behöver också kunna knyta nya kontakter, få se på goda exempel och samverka kring logistiken kring insamling för att uppnå effektivitet. / In today’s textile industry, tons of textiles are incinerated every year without being used once. This because the textile industry today is built like a linear system, in which raw materials enter the system and then leave it in the form of waste. Requirements are now set on a national level in Sweden that requires the textile industry to change its direction and become circular as a part of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This poses massive requirements on Swedish textile companies to handle their textile waste material in their processes in new ways. For textile waste material to become the raw material in a new product, new systems are necessary and sometimes cross-industry collaborations are needed. This study aims to contribute with knowledge about the challenges that Swedish textile companies face when textile waste materials are becoming the raw material in new products, and the opportunities to take advantage of through networking and knowledge sharing. With observations, a survey, and semi structured interviews the challenges and opportunities of Swedish textile product developing companies and textile production companies for collecting and using textile waste material was studied. The study also investigates the need for resources and expanded networks that the companies have, to increase the use of textile waste as a raw material. The study shows that the attitude among the production companies to sort and collect their textile waste is positive and that there are great opportunities for an increased collection of textile industrial waste material with a high level of traceability. The study also shows that for the companies that want to use textile waste material as a raw material in their products, new systems for effective collection and processes for refining the materials are asked for. To meet these requirements all parts of the value chain need to be reconsidered and new ways of thinking needs to be applied to try new collaborations and find new paths. The result of the study shows that a platform for just trading materials is not good enough, the companies are also in need of new contacts, inspiration, and solutions for efficient logistics in sorting, collecting, and distributing materials.

Textilkonsumtion i världen har ökat drastiskt under de senaste decennierna, vilket också syns i övergången till att fast fashion nu dominerar textilindustrin. Även i Sverige har konsumtionen ökat, vilket bidrar till att textilindustrin skapar allvarliga följder för miljön. Textilåterbruk och återvinning har under tiden släpat efter och ännu idag återvinns enbart enstaka procent av allt textilavfall. Enligt ett EU-direktiv ska samtliga EU-medlemmar år 2025 införa systematisk separat insamling av textilier. Detta erbjuder möjligheter till ökat återbruk och återvinning, men innebär också utmaningar för hantering av ökade flöden av separat textilavfall. En typ av teknologi som kan vara till hjälp för detta ändamål är automatiserad sortering. I denna rapport undersöks genom en litteraturstudie samt en intervjustudie, med aktörer inom återbruks- och återvinningsområdet, vilken inverkan sorteringsprocesser har på återvinning och textilflöden. Huvudsakligt fokus ligger på att förstå samspelet mellan automatiserad sortering och andra processer på en högre nivå, men även tekniska aspekter som inverkar på detta diskuteras. Från undersökningen framkom att automatiserad sortering spelar en begränsad men växande roll för textilflöden, där teknik baserat på nära infrarött ljus och spektrografi är vad som huvudsakligen används. Det finns en stor osäkerhet bland aktörer inom återvinning och återbruk gällande hur separat textilinsamling kommer att implementeras och om det kommer att finansieras via utökat producentansvar eller inte, vilket försvårar utveckling inom området. Det saknas teknik för att möjliggöra automatisering av många steg i den manuella sorteringsprocessen. För att öka automatiseringsgraden ser sig AI-baserade lösningar som det mest lovande utvecklingsområdet, men då det saknas välfinansierade projekt inom detta riskerar utvecklingen gå långsamt. Återvinning utgör enbart en del, som nu är mycket liten, i lösningen av textilindustrins miljöproblem varför minskning av textilkonsumtion generellt, samt förlängningen av textiliers livslängder fortsatt bör prioriteras. / Textile consumption worldwide has increased dramatically in recent decades, as evidenced by the overall transition to fast fashion which now dominates the textile industry. Consumption has also increased in Sweden, contributing to grave environmental consequences caused by the textile industry. Textile reuse and recycling has lagged behind, and to this day, only a fraction of all textile waste is recycled. According to an EU directive, all EU member states are required to implement systematic separate collection of textiles by 2025. This offers opportunities for increased reuse and recycling but also poses challenges for the management of increased flows of separated textile waste. One type of technology that can be useful for this purpose is automated sorting. This report examines, through a literature review as well as an interview study with actors in the reuse and recycling sector, the impact of sorting processes on recycling and textile flows. The primary focus of the report is on understanding the interaction between automated sorting and other processes at a higher level, however technical aspects that affect this are also discussed. The investigation revealed that automated sorting plays a limited but growing role in textile flows, where technology based on near-infrared light and spectroscopy is primarily used. There is a great deal of uncertainty among stakeholders within the recycling and reuse sector regarding how textile collection will be implemented and whether it will be financed through extended producer responsibility or not, which impedes development. With regard to many of the steps involved in manual textile sorting, there is currently no technology that would enable their automation. To increase the level of automation, AI-based solutions appear to constitute the most promising area of development, but the lack of well-funded projects in this area risks slowing down progress. Recycling represents only a small part of the solution to the environmental problems of the textile industry, which is why reducing overall textile consumption and extending the textile lifespans should continue to be prioritized.

[pt] O Brasil é um dos líderes mundiais na produção de moda praia e o estado do Rio de Janeiro é o maior produtor deste segmento no país, representado pelo Arranjo Produtivo Local Polo Moda Praia de Cabo Frio. No processo de corte destes modelos há um desperdício médio de 30 por cento de matéria-prima, predominantemente de origem sintética, e grande parte desse montante acaba descartado em aterros sanitários onde pode levar séculos para se decompor. Com o objetivo de sistematizar um conjunto de ações em busca de soluções, investiga-se nesta pesquisa como criar um processo de gestão de resíduos para o arranjo através do uso da tecnologia de manufatura aditiva, considerando as dimensões ambiental, social e econômica. A pesquisa, exploratória e aplicada, analisou a dinâmica dos resíduos têxteis do arranjo para considerar a formulação de estratégias de recuperação de valor desse material. Para tanto, a base teórica apoiou-se nos conceitos de economia circular, para entender as diferentes perspectivas e abordagens de modelos operacionais circulares; de arranjos produtivos locais, tendo em vista o incremento da cooperação entre as empesas que fazem parte do arranjo; de simbiose industrial, como ferramenta inspirada nos ecossistemas naturais para o intercâmbio de materiais; e de manufatura aditiva, tecnologia capacitadora que impulsiona os modelos de economia circular e fortalece sistemas democráticos de fabricação local e distribuída. A pesquisa apresenta como resultados um modelo de fluxo circular aberto para gestão de resíduos têxteis do Arranjo Produtivo Local Polo Moda Praia de Cabo Frio, com base em uma integração intersetorial com empresas de reciclagem têxtil; e, um protótipo de filamento para impressoras 3D, desenvolvido a partir dos resíduos de malha poliamida para ser usado na produção de aviamentos e acessórios. Destaca-se que o sistema de gestão de resíduos PUC-Rio - Certificação Digital Número 1812471/CA proposto é dinâmico, permitindo que os vínculos estabelecidos entre os interlocutores locais propiciem novas articulações, dentro e fora do arranjo. / [en] Brazil is a world leader in beachwear production, and the state of Rio de Janeiro is the largest producer of this segment in the country, represented by the Local Productive Arrangement of Beachwear Apparel in the city of Cabo Frio, at the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the cutting process of these models, approximately 30 percent of raw material is wasted, mainly of synthetic origin, and is mostly discarded in sanitary landfills, where it can take centuries to decompose. In order to systematize a set of actions to pursue solutions, this research investigates, how to create a waste management process for the arrangement through the use of additive manufacturing technology, considering the environmental, social and economic dimensions. This exploratory and applied research, analyses the dynamics of textile waste from the arrangement to consider the formulation of strategies to recover value from this material. As a theoretical foundation were used the concepts of: (i) circular economy, to understand different perspectives and approaches of circular operational models; (ii) local productive arrangements, to recognize the current scenario and increase cooperation among companies that are part of the arrangement; (iii) of industrial symbiosis, as a tool inspired by natural ecosystems aimed at the exchange of materials; and (iv) additive manufacturing, as an enabling technology that drives circular economy models and strengthens democratic systems of local and distributed manufacturing. The thesis outcomes were an open flow model for textile waste management in a local production arrangement of beachwear apparel, through the intersectoral integration between textile recycling companies and the apparel manufacturers belonging to arrangement; and a prototype of a 3D printer filament using polyamide mesh for printing trims and accessories used in the manufacture of beachwear. It should be PUC-Rio - Certificação Digital número 1812471/CA noted that the proposed system is dynamic, allowing the links established between the local interlocutors to provide new articulations, within and outside the arrangement.