Car interior or house insulation. What happens with your recycled clothes?

Slovaks throw away 460 kilograms of clothes every ten minutes.

Slovaks throw away a pile of 460 kilograms of clothes every ten minutes.Slovaks throw away a pile of 460 kilograms of clothes every ten minutes. (Source: Barbara Jagušák)

Have you ever thought about what to do with your clothes when you don’t like them, they’re torn or do not fit anymore?

That is one of the questions that people who stand behind Fashion Revolution Week ask. The worldwide movement that celebrates its fifth anniversary worldwide now returns for the fourth time to Slovakia.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

Fashion Revolution Week is regularly organized during the week of April 24th to commemorate the 2013 tragedy known as Rana Plaza when the factory in Bangladesh collapsed. During this deadly accident, 1,138 people lost their lives and 2,500 people were injured.

SkryťTurn off ads

“We love fashion, but we don’t want our clothes to come at the cost of people or our planet,” is the main idea of Fashion Revolution.

Wasting clothes

This year, more than 100 countries all over the world are involved, including Slovakia. In total, Slovaks buy 67 tons of textiles per year. This amounts to three football stadiums filled with clothes at a height of seven floors, according to organization Priatelia Zeme (Friends of the Earth).

Slovakia produces 55,000 tons of textile waste every year; clothes are 40 percent of this amount. Slovaks throw away a pile of 460 kilograms of clothes every ten minutes.

How does one get rid of clothes and ensure they do not end up in a waste dump? Upcycling is an option for skilful people, but it’s also possible to give clothes to people who need it. The last option is recycling.

SkryťTurn off ads

When recycling clothes, it’s best to put unwanted pieces into containers owned by second-hand stores to ensure that clothes will be recycled, advises Miroslav Futrikanič, a director of the clothing recycle company.

The rest of this article is premium content at Spectator.sk
Subscribe now for full access

I already have subscription - Sign in

Subscription provides you with:
  • Immediate access to all locked articles (premium content) on Spectator.sk
  • Special weekly news summary + an audio recording with a weekly news summary to listen to at your convenience (received on a weekly basis directly to your e-mail)
  • PDF version of the latest issue of our newspaper, The Slovak Spectator, emailed directly to you
  • Access to all premium content on Sme.sk and Korzar.sk

Top stories

Stock image.

Twice as many Ukrainians work in Slovakia now than before the Russian invasion.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad