According to Expats.cz, a pile of old clothes weighing about 4 tons was left in front of a shopping mall in Prague (Czech Republic) on November 11, drawing attention to the growing problems related to textile waste.
The City of Prague has partnered with the Prague Innovation Institute to organize the workshop “Circular Cities and Businesses 3: Cities as Overloaded Wardrobes” at the Hybernska Campus to highlight the urgency of this issue.
The workshop brought together experts from various fields to discuss solutions to the textile waste crisis. Environment Minister Petr Hladik stressed the importance of the new law, which stipulates separate textile collection from 2025.
The pile of clothes represents the amount of textile waste an average family produces in their lifetime and was provided by Diakonie Broumov, a Czech non-profit organization that collects old items to reduce waste and support people in need.
This amount of clothing also represents the annual carbon footprint of 10 Czech citizens if the clothes were new.
According to experts' estimates, about 5.8 million tons of textile waste are produced annually in Europe, including the Czech Republic. This figure is equivalent to 11kg per person.
Prague has made efforts to reduce recyclable waste, said Deputy Mayor for the Environment Jana Komrskova. She noted that textiles are reusable and account for only 2 percent of the city’s waste. As a result, the city is considering opening a recycling center to extend the life of the products.
The rapid growth of the fast fashion sector has contributed to Europe’s growing textile waste problem. Governments are calling on businesses to work together to promote sustainable fashion to tackle the problem.
