At a factory香蕉视频直播痠n Zhejiang province on China香蕉视频直播檚 eastern coast,香蕉视频直播痶wo mounds of discarded香蕉视频直播痗otton clothing and bed linens, loosely separated into dark and light colors, pile up on a workroom floor. Jacket sleeves, collars and brand labels protrude from the stacks as workers feed the garments into shredding machines.

It香蕉视频直播檚 the first stage of a new life for the textiles, part of a recycling effort at the Wenzhou Tiancheng Textile Company, one of the largest cotton recycling plants in China.

Textile waste is an urgent global problem, , according to fashion sustainability香蕉视频直播痭onprofit Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Even less 香蕉视频直播� only 1% 香蕉视频直播� are castoff clothes recycled into new garments; the majority is used for low-value items like insulation or mattress stuffing.

Nowhere is the problem the world香蕉视频直播檚 largest textile香蕉视频直播痯roducer and consumer,香蕉视频直播痺here more than 26 million tons of clothes are thrown away each year, according to government statistics. Most of it ends up in landfills.

And factories like this one are barely making a dent in a country whose clothing industry is dominated by 香蕉视频直播渇ast fashion香蕉视频直播澫憬妒悠抵辈ク香蕉视频直播� cheap clothes made from香蕉视频直播痷nrecyclable synthetics, not cotton.香蕉视频直播疨roduced from petrochemicals that contribute to climate change, air and water pollution, synthetics account for 70% of domestic clothing sales in China.

China香蕉视频直播檚 footprint is worldwide: make the country one of the world香蕉视频直播檚 largest producers of cheap fashion, selling in more than 150 countries.

To achieve a game-changing impact, what fashion expert Shaway Yeh calls 香蕉视频直播渃ircular sustainability香蕉视频直播� is needed among major Chinese clothing brands so waste is avoided entirely.

香蕉视频直播淵ou need to start it from recyclable fibers and then all these waste textiles will be put into use again,香蕉视频直播� she said.

But that is an elusive goal: Only about 20% of China香蕉视频直播檚 textiles are recycled, according to the Chinese government 香蕉视频直播� and almost all of that is cotton.

Chinese cotton is not without a taint of its own, said Claudia Bennett of the nonprofit Human Rights Foundation. in Xinjiang province by the country香蕉视频直播檚 ethnic Uyghur minority.

香蕉视频直播淥ne in five cotton garments globally is linked to Uyghur forced labor,香蕉视频直播� Bennett said.

In May, the U.S. blocked imports from 26 Chinese cotton traders and warehouses to avoid goods made with Uyghur forced labor. But because the supply chain is so sketchy, Uyghur cotton is used in garments produced in other countries that , Bennett said.

香蕉视频直播淢any, many, many clothing brands are linked to Uyghur forced labor through the cotton,香蕉视频直播� she said. They 香蕉视频直播渉ide behind the lack of transparency in the supply chain.香蕉视频直播�

While China is a global leader in the production of electric cars and electric-powered public transit and has set a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, its efforts in promoting fashion sustainability and recycling textiles have taken a back seat.

According to a report this year from independent assessing major clothing companies on their environmental, human rights and equitability practices, there香蕉视频直播檚 little accountability among the best-known brands.

The group gave Shein, whose online marketplace groups about 6,000 Chinese clothing factories under its label, just 6 out of a possible 150 points. Temu scored zero.

Also getting zero were U.S. label SKIMS, co-founded by Kim Kardashian, and low-price brand Fashion Nova. U.S. retailer Everlane was the highest-scorer at 40 points, with only half of those for sustainability practices.

China香蕉视频直播檚 domestic policy doesn香蕉视频直播檛 help.

Cotton recycled from used clothing is banned from being used to make new garments inside China. This rule was香蕉视频直播痠nitially香蕉视频直播痑imed at stamping out fly-by-night Chinese operations recycling dirty or otherwise contaminated material.

But now it means the huge spools of tightly woven rope-like cotton yarn produced at the Wenzhou Tiancheng factory from used clothing can only be sold for export, mostly to Europe.

Making matters worse, many Chinese香蕉视频直播痗onsumers are unwilling to buy used items anyway, something the Wenzhou factory sales director, Kowen Tang, attributes to increasing household incomes.

香蕉视频直播淭hey want to buy new clothes, the new stuff,香蕉视频直播� he said of the stigma associated with buying used.

Still, among younger Chinese, a growing awareness of sustainability has香蕉视频直播痗ontributed to the emergence of fledgling 香蕉视频直播渞emade香蕉视频直播� clothing businesses.

Thirty-year-old designer Da Bao founded Times Remake in 2019, a Shanghai-based brand that takes secondhand clothes and refashions them into new garments. At the company香蕉视频直播檚 work room in Shanghai, tailors work with secondhand denims and sweatshirts, stitching them into funky new fashions.

The venture, which香蕉视频直播痓egan香蕉视频直播痺ith Da Bao and his father-in-law posting their one-off designs online, now has a flagship store in Shanghai香蕉视频直播檚 trendy Jing香蕉视频直播檃n District that stocks their remade garments alongside vintage items, such as Levi香蕉视频直播檚 and Carhartt jackets.

The designs are 香蕉视频直播渁 combination of the past style and current fashion aesthetic to create something unique,香蕉视频直播� Bao said.

Zhang Na has a fashion label, Reclothing Bank, that sells clothes, bags and other accessories made from materials such as plastic bottles, fishing nets and flour sacks.

The items香蕉视频直播� labels have QR codes that show their composition, how they were made and the provenance of the materials. Zhang draws on well-established production methods, such as textile fibers made from pineapple leaf, a centuries-old tradition originating in the Philippines.

香蕉视频直播淲e can basically develop thousands of new fabrics and new materials,香蕉视频直播� she said.

Reclothing Bank began in 2010 to give 香蕉视频直播渘ew life to old things,香蕉视频直播� Zhang said of her store in a historic Shanghai alley with a mix of Western and Chinese architecture. A large used clothes deposit box sat outside the entrance.

香蕉视频直播淥ld items actually carry a lot of people香蕉视频直播檚 memories and emotions,香蕉视频直播� she said.

Zhang said she has seen sustainability consciousness grow since she opened her store, with core customers in their 20s and 30s.

Bao Yang, a college student who dropped by the store on a visit to Shanghai, said she was surprised at the feel of the clothes.

香蕉视频直播淚 think it香蕉视频直播檚 amazing, because when I first entered the door, I heard that many of the clothes were actually made of shells or corn (husks), but when I touched the clothes in detail, I had absolutely no idea that they would have this very comfortable feel,香蕉视频直播� she said.

Still, she conceded that buying sustainable clothing is a hard sell. 香蕉视频直播淧eople of my age are more addicted to fast fashion, or they do not think about the sustainability of clothes,香蕉视频直播� she said.

Recycled garments sold at stores like Reclothing Bank have a much higher price tag than fast-fashion brands香蕉视频直播痙ue to their costly production methods.

And therein lies the real problem, said Sheng Lu, professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware.

香蕉视频直播淪tudies repeatedly show consumers are not willing to pay higher for clothing made from recycled materials, and instead they actually expect a lower price because they see such clothing as made of secondhand stuff,香蕉视频直播� he said.

With higher costs in acquiring, sorting and processing used garments, he doesn香蕉视频直播檛 see sustainable fashion succeeding on a wide scale in China, where clothes are so cheap to make.

香蕉视频直播淐ompanies do not have the financial incentive,香蕉视频直播� he said.

For real change there needs to be 香蕉视频直播渕ore clear signals from the very top,香蕉视频直播� he added, referring to government targets like .

Still, in China 香蕉视频直播済overnment can be a friend to any sector,香蕉视频直播� Lu said, so if China香蕉视频直播檚 communist leaders see economic potential, it could trigger a policy shift that drives new investment in sustainable fashion.

But for now, the plastic-wrapped cones of tightly-wound cotton being loaded onto trucks outside the Wenzhou Tiancheng factory were all headed to overseas markets, far from where their recycling journey began.

香蕉视频直播淔ast fashion definitely is not out of fashion香蕉视频直播� in China, Lu said.