Source tradeshow partners Salvation Army Trading Company on textile recycling

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 22, 2022

The Source Fashion tradeshow — running at the same time as Pure London at Olympia next February — has linked up with the Salvation Army Trading Company (SATCoL) to showcase its Fibersort textile recycling technology.

This is “designed to repurpose and resupply more recycled materials into established supply chains.

Source said Fibersort is the “first technology of its kind in the UK – automatically identifying and sorting second-hand textiles by fibre type”.

It makes sure garments are accurately separated for recycling, and the system “is the first in the UK to sort post-consumer garments which can no longer be reworn”.

SATCoL’s Charlene Bent, said the collab “provides another opportunity for businesses to learn more about our sustainable solutions, to reduce waste, reuse and recycle pre-loved items and help to raise vital funds for charity work. We are part of a society that over-consumes in many areas. Our role in minimising the environmental impacts of textiles is to divert as much as possible away from disposal and lessen the burden of over production”.

She added that reusing clothing is “a crucial way to divert significant volumes — each year we prevent around 62,000 tonnes of clothing and home textiles from being disposed of. The more second-hand clothing we can process through our existing channels and through recycling systems such as Fibersort, the more potential we have to reclaim and, work with our retail partners, to ‘resupply’ more recycled materials into established supply chains.”

Suzanne Ellingham, the tradeshow’s Director of Sourcing, said: “Partnerships and collaborations like this one with SATCoL are the future of sourcing and circularity and demonstrate the ethos behind launching Source Fashion. Responsible sourcing is at the heart of what we do, but we are always aware of the circularity of Fashion. As Source Fashion evolves, we will look to highlight more of these fantastic initiatives and sustainable solutions that make a real difference.”