Kristin Aase: Creativity and new political policy necessary to expand the recycling of textiles
Former managing director of Fretex Øst-Norge AS
(The presentation will be illustrated by a great variety of pictures from the business and the new products)
The environmental challenge
Textiles has not got much attention as a contributor to pollution, but it represents a worrying great proportion of the pollution of our environment. Fretex collect about 10% of all used textiles in Norway, according to a rapport from the Norwegian environment-NGO Bellona. What happens to the rest? How about the surplus of the continuing shifting fashion collections? In Norway the priority are giving to burning of textiles for energy-production. I believe this should be the third priority when it comes to used textiles. First we should expand the reuse of used textiles, and second we should try recirculation of the textiles by using the fibres to create new products.
Fretex – the history and the products
Fretex is an over 100 years old company, that has used used clothes and articles to create jobs for unemployed people, sold used products to get money for other social activities for the less fortunate among us, and of course give away and sell used clothes cheap to poor people. The work started on a small scale. But today it is all over Norway, giving job-practice to about 800 people. And the collection of used textiles has exploded. Fretex could have collected much more that they do, but so fare it is not economically possible. Today Fretex collects 10 000 tons used textiles in Norway a year, from Kirkenes in the north to Kristiansand in the south. Fretex is organised as a private limited corporation.
The textiles are used as follows:
10% are sold in 45 shops all over Norway, among that is redesigned articles
70% are exported to different countries in Europe and Asia
2% are used to produce shoddy (textile fibres) and relief-blankets.
18% are garbage.
Development of new products
The most important way of recycling textiles today, is to sell it directly through shops in Norway and to businesses abroad. That has the highest priority in Fretex, since that gives us many job-practice possibilities, and it is the best for the environment. A new approach to reach new costumers is to sell products through the internet. Fretex also recycle textiles through producing shoddy, which is textiles broken down to small fibres, and so fare used only for relief-blankets. But the production of shoddy will possibly soon expand greatly, because of a new product that Fretex has supported development of – a isolation mat for houses called Ultimat. That product had not been realized without strong commercial backing of the big company Veidekke. It has a great potential of recycling a huge amount of used textiles.
Fretex has also developed own products lately, under a new brand called Fretex Redesign. So fare they has designed and produced pillows for living rooms, different design-bags, skirts and modern underwear. If this will be a success is yet to see. But there is a great potential for reusing the textiles that today becomes garbage. Fretex has also a strong and offensive marketing profile, to make used products more popular.
Challenges for the future
Both the official authorities and private companies must get more involved in developing new product to expand the recirculation of used textiles, to reduce the waste of energy and the growing pollution from textiles. The government must have a different focus, not only burning the textiles for energy-production, and must give necessary encouragement to commercial companies to develop new products.