Second Life

Second Life: giving maximum value to End-of-Life textiles

The main goal of this project is to maximise the value of End-of-Life textiles and to prevent typical down cycling.

Re-use of fabrics from made-to-measure items that do not fit provides an example of how ‘Second Life’ can work in practice:

• A relevant fraction of made-to-measure shirts are non-fitting
• An action was set-up to collect these items
• New garments (boxer shorts) have been made from them
• These are made by BIVOLINO and CENTEXBEL

The objective of this project is to run small scale trials or pilot actions to show alternatives that maximise EoL value of textiles. This translates into:

• At the garment level: find new use for existing garments such as a second-hand shop, with minimal mending/changes
• At the fabric level: re-use of pieces of actual EoL clothing by making new items out of it
• At the fibre level: improve mechanical recycling so that fibres can be re-used for spinning