Old clothes get new life

"Seeing is believing, and when customers see what a valuable resource garments at end of life can be, they will take to recycling and recognize the difference their actions can make," says Bang.

The Garment-To-Garment Recycling System is the result of collaboration between HKRITA, the H&M Foundation and a textile-recycling mill and local spinning mill. The sys-tem is located at The Mills in the Centring district of Hong Kong, a newly repurposed former textile mill.

The system is placed in a container of 40 feet, exhibiting the complete production process. And the steps include sanitization of the collected garments, removing hard trims such as buttons and zippers, cutting the fabric into smaller pieces, opening and mixing fiber, carding, spinning, doubling, twisting, and eventually garment knitting.

Speaking about the recycling project, Edwin Keh, chief executive officer of HKRITA, says: "After successfully developing recycling technologies, we have devoted effort to put them into practice. Our recycling systems represent the industry's innovation efforts. These not only revitalize a decades-old industry, but also do it sustainably."