Page 20 - TEXtalks. July- August 2023

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Turning waste into value; Scaling

textile recycling in Europe

EURATEX has signed before the notary the act launching ReHubs Europe, a new international non-profit
association set to bring together the best in a class of different industries as well as newcomers to make
textile recycling in Europe a reality.

Sharing Brussels’ EURATEX offices, ReHubs Europe will support its members in investing in textile recycling
capacity with the ambition of achieving 2.5 million tons of fiber-to-fiber textile recycling by 2030; it will support
its members in finding partners, knowledge, and funds. This endeavour will also support the societal
challenge of meaningfully collecting, sorting, reusing and recycling up to 7.5 million tons of textile waste
generated every year, which the new EU waste directive (published on 5 July) is set to establish in the EU
through the mandatory collection and EPR schemes.

Beyond its membership services, the association aims at spill-over benefits with the wider industry and
societal stakeholders by generating new knowledge on critical ad-hoc studies and publishing an online
dynamic European textile recycling Roadmap. This may guide companies and public authorities in Europe to
monitor the progress of building the new recycling value chain and supporting the growth of the whole sector.

China's textile & garment exports

are down 8.35 percent to $142 bn

In the first half (H1) of 2023, China's cumulative exports of textiles, clothing, and accessories reached
$142.677 billion, according to data from the General Administration of Customs of China. This represented an
8.35 percent decline compared to the same period in 2022. Notably, garment exports saw a decrease of 5.9
percent during this period.

In June 2023, the downward trend in garment shipments persisted, despite a brief respite in May. The
six-month export total for garments and clothing accessories came to $74.981 billion, a reduction of 5.9
percent from the $79.678 billion reported during the corresponding period in 2022. The first half of 2023 also
saw China's exports of textiles, such as yarn and fabric, decline by 10.9 percent year-on-year.

The total dropped to $67.696 billion from $75.994 billion in the first half of 2022. For June 2023 alone, China's
exports comprised $11.567 billion in textiles and $15.424 billion in garments. At the same time, China's
imports of textile yarn and fabric products fell 19.6 percent to $5.342 billion in the first six months of 2023,
down from $6.644 billion during the same period in 2022. The exports for that year included $175.396 billion
in garments and accessories and $145.079 billion in textile products, such as yarn and fabric.

July/August 2023