Textile waste management : current situation in Hong Kong and overseas practices

Abstract

Post-consumer textile product is one of the rapid expanding markets in the world. Various kinds of textile goods are generated in every season to meet consumer demand and trends. With such a high level of consumption, it is very likely that more unwanted domestic textiles will be produced. Without proper textile waste management, the unwanted textiles will eventually end up in landfills and incinerators becoming textile wastes.

Overseas countries put a lot of effort in facilitating textile waste management. Their commercial recyclers, NGOs and government have implemented different programmes to promote textile waste management in their communities. Although Hong Kong government and NGOs have also implemented some schemes to deal with the domestic textile waste problem, the effectiveness of the schemes are in doubt. Over the last decade, most of the textile waste in Hong Kong is sent to the landfills, causing environmental problems and exerting a huge spatial pressure on the landfills. Nevertheless, most of the textile wastes which are recovered are being sent overseas which is very likely to be developing countries for recycling, leading to a diverted textile waste problem. In addition, since there are no policy and regulations on dealing with textile wastes, there is a lack of incentive for the recyclers to treat textile wastes properly. Therefore, it is essential to raise the public’s awareness towards the textile waste problem and textile waste management programmes, as well as to provide sufficient supporting measures to facilitate effective textile waste management in Hong Kong.

There is a lack of study about domestic textile waste management in Hong Kong, including the public’s behaviour and attitude towards textile waste management. This dissertation fills this knowledge gap. The result of this study shows that there is a value action gap among Hong Kong citizens. Besides, insufficient public awareness towards textile waste management, inconvenience of textile waste collection network, the lack of textile waste management and recycling facilities, the lack of policy support and initiatives, inadequate monitoring of the textile waste management programmes, and the lack of effective green education also contribute to the poor effectiveness and efficiency of textile waste management in Hong Kong. Based on these findings, recommendations are then made.