00:00 The textile industry is one of the most polluting in the world. It thrives in brightly lit stores
00:08 and shopping malls. Cheap clothing, fast fashion. Production has exploded worldwide along with
00:14 its toxic emissions.
00:20 We`re buying more and more clothes, but they last half as long. They often end up in landfill
00:24 sites far from Europe and out of sight. Is a sustainable shift still possible? To find
00:30 the answers, we set off on a journey. First stop, Italy.
00:42 We`ve arrived in Prato in Tuscany, just a few kilometers from Florence, and this town
00:46 has been a European textile center since the Middle Ages.
00:51 For Italians, fashion is very important, isn`t it?
00:59 I work with fashion. I have a clothing shop.
01:02 People here like to dress well.
01:05 To look unique in a way.
01:07 Prato is the home of Europe`s largest textile district. It`s also a circular economy hub.
01:13 Fifteen percent of the world`s recycled textiles are produced here.
01:16 Comistra is a leader in wool recycling. This century old company gives a new life to tons
01:22 of used rags, which arrive in this warehouse every day.
01:26 Sixty percent of raw materials are destined for reuse. Around 35 percent will be recycled
01:32 and around five percent will be thrown away or thermovalorized. The clothes arrive in
01:36 these bags and are sorted by hand. That`s how we decide what`s going to be reused or
01:41 recycled.
01:46 When sorted by color, the wool is reduced to fiber and regenerated by these machines.
01:51 That morning, they`re working with black.
01:58 The torn fiber you saw earlier has been transformed into a primary material. And the water we
02:03 use, we recycle it.
02:07 This wool fiber, with its reduced environmental impact, will be blended with others to make
02:11 yarns and fabrics and worn in coats or on fashion catwalks.
02:16 The circular economy is at the heart of the European Union`s sustainable textile strategy,
02:20 which aims to impose the use of recycled fibers and encourage eco-design, a key value for
02:25 the head of this company.
02:31 When we design a garment, we have to think about it in such a way that when its life
02:35 ends, it can be easily repaired, recycled and reused. It`s what we call the magic circle
02:45 of the circular economy.
02:48 Today, we have a great opportunity. The Green Deal and Europe are showing us the way. Sending
02:54 equipment to the recycling sector could provide a lot of work to many people.
03:00 But people still need to buy clothes that are truly sustainable. To combat greenwashing,
03:07 a QR code passport project is being studied in Europe. It will provide information such
03:12 as recyclability and the environmental impact of the item.
03:18 Niccolo believes that it`s the story behind the garment and not its price that should
03:22 drive the purchase. He is the founder of Rifo, a startup that favors natural fibers such
03:27 as cotton and wool and recyclable designs made from recycled single materials.
03:33 What are the technological limits of your industry? Are there certain fabrics that are
03:37 more difficult to recycle?
03:39 Today, most fabrics on the market are bought at low cost and they are not recyclable. And
03:44 that`s a problem. Because the best way to make a product profitable is to mix natural
03:49 and synthetic fibers. Some technologies allow fibers to be separated, but not yet at an
03:57 industrial level. At some point, we`ll have to introduce a recyclability criterion. And
04:02 we`ll be able to say those who make recyclable clothes pay a certain tax, and those who make
04:07 clothes that aren`t totally recyclable will have to pay another.
04:12 The European Waste Framework Directive is about to be revised. It is expected that industrial
04:17 polluters will pay for the selective collection of used textiles. In Prato, a new textile
04:22 sorting hub will be built next year. The aim is to double the quantity of fabrics collected
04:27 and modernize the recycling sector.
04:34 During this report, many people told Euronews the same thing. The priority is to buy less
04:38 new clothes. But is that really possible? To find out, we headed to Lithuania.
04:45 We`re in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. I`m told it`s a bit like the Milan or Paris
04:52 of the Baltic States. We`re meeting a fashion journalist who`s going to give us some tips
04:57 on sustainable shopping.
04:59 On one hand, fast fashion kind of provides a lot of people with the opportunity to dress
05:03 themselves. So, in one way, it makes sense, but on the other hand, the amount of clothes
05:09 that they produce is quite catastrophic, in my opinion, because they produce a lot more
05:14 than we can use or that we should even use.
05:18 A cheap, good quality alternative is secondhand clothing. In this thrift shop, everything
05:23 costs four euros and there are some good materials.
05:28 No one ever needs to make anything else that is new. The amount of clothes that we already
05:33 have on this planet is more than enough for every single person that lives here. How many
05:38 people do we have now? Eight billion? We can just use what we already have here, here,
05:43 everywhere. So, yeah.
05:45 Dei Mantei still prefers to shop on Vinted, the famous secondhand shopping app created
05:49 in Vilnius 15 years ago, which boasts 50 million users.
05:53 It says "Stories in Lithuania." It`s actually the first of course I can show. These are
06:00 the clothes that I like, that I`m going to buy and sometimes you can even swap clothing
06:05 without paying anyone.
06:06 Vinted claims that it is hoping to curb textile overproduction. The company carried out a
06:11 major consultation effort with its members a few months ago.
06:14 Hundreds of millions of transactions that happened through Vinted, for about 40 percent,
06:20 they meant that a new product was not purchased. That means that that new product then doesn`t
06:25 need to be produced. That`s only 14 percent of clothing fashion transactions are secondhand.
06:33 So, we just have a long, long way to go to really make secondhand the default of how
06:39 people buy.
06:40 To round off our trip in style, Dei Mantei has invited us to a special evening.
06:46 Have you ever been to a sustainable fashion show? Let`s find out together.
06:57 My head`s spinning.
06:59 A Lithuanian brand specializing in upcycling is presenting its new collection. Behind curtains
07:05 carried by a duo of punk designers that a journalist really likes. She wore one of their
07:10 creations for the occasion.
07:13 We decided to use suit and the sport jackets together. So, you can go to the office, but
07:21 later you can go to the party.
07:24 The fashion for masses are too big and it`s growing a lot and we don`t need it. We can
07:31 reuse the things.
07:32 They are doing a super good job because their main message is take fast fashion out of fashion,
07:37 buy something that can be remade.
07:39 And that`s the end of our journey. See you soon on the road to a greener world.
07:43 Thank you.
07:52 Thank you.
07:53 Thank you.
07:53 Thank you.
07:54 Thank you.
07:55 Thank you.
07:56 Thank you.
07:56 [MUSIC]
