COUNCIL IN FOCUS
Looking ahead to textile solutions THE CITY OF DAREBIN COUNCIL IS SETTING ITS SIGHTS ON THE FUTURE OF TEXTILE RECYCLING WITHIN ITS COMMUNITY.
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ustralians send about $500 million of clothing to landfill each year, more than 95 per cent of which can be recycled or reused. The City of Darebin Council, in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, is turning its attention to textile and material waste as part of its commitment to establishing a circular economy. The council received funding in 2021 from Sustainability Victoria, as part of the Recycling Victoria Councils Fund, to conduct a feasibility study into a commercial textile recycling facility. Ai Ikemi, the council’s Sustainability Programs Officer, says textile waste has been identified as a growth area for the region. “We engaged with an external consultant back in 2019. When they were conducting a large waste strategic review for us, [we found] that in addition to food waste, textile waste should be a priority for us,” Ai says. “For the first time we have put on a climate change lens when reviewing our waste strategy. We found that focusing on textile waste was really good for emission reduction and not just waste reduction.” The Strategic Waste Options Summary Report, completed by an external consultant, highlighted key areas for the City of Darebin to action as far as textile waste was concerned, including landfill diversion and carbon emissions.
The City of Darebin’s feasibility study is being financially supported by Sustainability Victoria.
“When you look at the amount of textile waste going to landfill it is actually a small amount. It’s about three per cent of what Darebin sends to landfill,” Ai says. “But when we look at the intensiveness of emissions from that three per cent, we identified that it was a huge opportunity for us to reduce our carbon impacts. “What we are ultimately trying to achieve is a local solution to closing the loop for textile waste. When the Sustainability Victoria grants were made available, we wanted to take that next step and actually look at recycling locally.” Nina Bailey, Senior Sustainability Programs Officer, says that the Darebin feasibility study will provide more clarity around the applicability of textile infrastructure projects for the local area.
“We have really wanted to be at the innovative end when working with the circular economy in Darebin, which is why this textile project is very exciting,” Nina says. “At the end of this process we want to have a look at the report and recommendations and sit internally and do more stakeholder engagement. “The next phase will likely involve council seeking more funds. The end goal is to develop something infrastructure-wise that can contribute to textile treatment,” she says. “It is easy enough to talk about waste avoidance and landfill avoidance, but we want to go that step further and offer everyone a solution.” The City of Darebin is already encouraging local recycling through organically grown programs such as the Darebin Hard Rubbish Heroes
w 62 / WMR / March 2022
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