Textile waste targeted in new stewardship funding round

The Federal Government will invest $1 million in funding to support product stewardship efforts to reduce clothing textiles waste.

The funding will be disbursed through a new grant round under the National Product Stewardship Investment Fund.

The announcement came at last month’s inaugural National Roundtable on Clothing Textile Waste held at Parliament House in Canberra attended by industry and recycling organisations.

A communique issued after the roundtable said there was “broad agreement to a hold a National Summit later this year to develop a set of product stewardship goals for a circular economy for clothing textiles.

“The summit will focus on collaboration and action by industry and governments, that could also inform action on textiles in a broader range of products,” the statement read.

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley said the roundtable was not about ending “our love of fashion” but about creating new economic opportunities for what is an unfashionable problem.

“We want to keep clothing out of landfill, where it can take hundreds of years to break down, releasing harmful carbon emissions along the way, and we do not want to bombard our charities with clothes that are not fit for reuse,” Ms Ley said.

She said the successful grant applicant will need to “bring the industry together to design a strategy that will eliminate textile waste, use fewer resources, and design for reuse at every step of the supply chain”.