New association wants to introduce a clothing recycling system in Switzerland
Keystone-SDA
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Seven companies from the textile and clothing industry founded the Fabric Loop association in Switzerland on Tuesday. This association aims to boost the circular economy in the industry with an early recycling contribution.
The aim is to make the re-use, repair and recycling of textiles commonplace in Switzerland, the association said on Tuesday. The founding companies are Calida, Mammut, Odlo, PKZ, Radys, Switcher and Workfashion.
The vision of those involved is a holistic system that starts at the production stage. Advance recycling contributions when purchasing a product are intended to provide the necessary infrastructure, technologies and services. It is not yet possible to determine how high these contributions will be, as the costs of closing the loop must first be calculated.
According to Fabric Loop, the planned Swiss system should also be harmonised with the European Union market so that cross-border cooperation would be possible. In the longer term, all market participants – including foreign online platforms in particular – should also co-finance the system.
Fabric Loop said industry solutions such as these are to be introduced across the board in the EU from 2026. Companies in all member states would be held more accountable by this EU textile strategy, and this would also affect companies from third countries such as Switzerland that deliver to the EU.
In Switzerland, the successful PET recycling system, which has made it possible to collect, sort and recycle plastic bottles across the board, is also a model to follow.
“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel, but rather build on what already exists where it works,” said Nina Bachmann from the Swiss industry association Swiss Textiles, which is supporting the project.
Before such an industry solution can be launched, however, preparatory work is necessary. The Fabric Loop association wants to develop the legal and organisational basis for this in 2025. Other companies are also to be won over to the project and the business model further developed.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
More
Switzerland condemned for deciding to deport gay Iranian
This content was published on
Switzerland violated the prohibition on inhuman treatment by considering that a gay Iranian could be returned to his country.
Gestational diabetes found to increase risk of adult-onset diabetes
This content was published on
A research team from the Lake Geneva region has identified persistent dysfunctions in glucose regulation in women with gestational diabetes. In the long term, this can increase the risk of adult-onset diabetes by up to ten times.
Swiss village must be evacuated by midday on Sunday
This content was published on
The village of Brienz-Brinzauls in eastern Switzerland, which is threatened by a rockfall, must be evacuated by 1pm on Sunday. All residents must leave the village.
A former judge of the Graubünden Administrative Court in eastern Switzerland has been found guilty of rape, sexual harassment and threatening a former trainee.
Costs and care time increase in Swiss retirement and nursing homes
This content was published on
In 2023 the costs of retirement and nursing homes increased by 5% compared to 2022 and those of assistance and care at home by 7%. Together, they amounted to CHF15 billion.
