China's landfills brim with textile waste as fast fashion reigns and recycling takes a back seat <br /><br />At a factory in Zhejiang province on China’s eastern coast, two mounds of discarded cotton clothing and bed linens, loosely separated into dark and light colors, pile up on a workroom floor. Jacket sleeves, collars and brand labels protrude from the stacks as workers feed the garments into shredding machines. <br /><br />It’s the first stage of a new life for the textiles, part of a recycling effort at the Wenzhou Tiancheng Textile Company, one of the largest cotton recycling plants in China. <br /><br />Textile waste is an urgent global problem, with only 12% recycled worldwide, according to fashion sustainability nonprofit Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Even less — only 1% — are castoff clothes recycled into new garments; the majority is used for low-value items like insulation or mattress stuffing. <br /><br />Photos by AP <br /><br />Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe <br />Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net <br /> <br />Follow us: <br />Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook <br />Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram <br />Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter <br />DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion <br /> <br />Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital <br /> <br />Check out our Podcasts: <br />Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify <br />Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts <br />Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic <br />Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer <br />Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein <br /> <br />#themanilatimes <br />#worldnews <br />#recycle <br />#fashion <br />
