Identifying the needs for a circular workwear textile management – A material flow analysis of workwear textile waste within Swiss Companies

Abstract

The textile sector with its linear management leads to environmental damage and high amounts of post-consumer waste. Circular economy has been identified as a promising solution. Workwear is assumed to have high potential for circularity because of its high, constant, and uniform material quality and quantity. There is little research on categorized material waste flows of workwear. To fill this gap, workwear flows of eight Swiss companies in 2019 were collected and analyzed. The results show that 1.6 kg/y/worker of workwear are procured. Concerning waste management, 0.6 kg/y are reused, 0.7 kg/y are incinerated, and 0.3 kg/y are recycled. According to the extrapolation, 0.4 kg/y/capita of workwear were consumed. The most weight-represented material type is mixed material, dominated by polycotton. Natural material, is the second biggest category, followed by synthetic and cellulosic materials. This study emphasizes the importance to monitor workwear flow data to enhance cooperation throughout the textile value chain and initiate circular management.