Textile waste a chance for new businesses

The warehouses and halls of Stip textile confections are littered with textile waste. The material that remains after sewing the finished textile products is stored and must go through a special procedure, in order to be transported to the city dump "Treštena Skala". Kiril Nashkov, a representative of Stip textile confections in the textile cluster, says that exactly that waste is a bad image for foreign partners, when they visit the factory plants, to conclude new contracts.

- But now everyone already knows, at the beginning we had to explain to the partners what it means and why we do it. We manage by storing that waste more discreetly, but for now, that is the legal procedure. First they have to go through Customs to see that waste, then we store and destroy it, says Nashkov.

This waste is an opportunity for business, points out Nashkov, but also Boris Sharkovski from the Foundation for the Development of the Local Community (FRLZ) and Kristina Ampeva from "Glasen Textilec".

Five years ago, Nashkov and a partner from Croatia created a company for the recycling and utilization of textile waste from Macedonian textile factories for the automotive industry in Croatia. But the idea failed due to the current laws and regulations in the country.

- Then we did not find understanding from the Customs Administration, because we demanded that they release us from the value of that waste. Then they told us that it is not possible to change that regulation, it is difficult to organize that change and so it remained and the company is waiting for some better times. I think it's a shame to destroy that waste in this way, as we are destroying it now. First we pollute the environment, then we have huge costs for it, and all over the world it is recycled and some kind of product is made from it, says Nashkov.

Two non-governmental organizations FRLZ and "Glasen textilec" have been working on textile waste recycling for several years. Sharkovski from FRLZ says that they have research and analysis on the recycling of textile waste. He notes that they see textile waste not as waste, but as a resource that can be used to produce a new product with added value.

- What we are doing with this project is to first raise people's awareness that textile waste is not just waste, but is a resource, repromaterial, which can enable economic independence of certain social categories of people, says Sharkovski.

He points out that for a long time textile waste has been used to produce seat cushions, decorative cushions, then for pets and children's dolls.

- But there are also other ways that can be used for insulation panels, bechaton tiles, the use is wide, says Sharkovski.

During the pandemic, they hired textile workers who had lost their jobs, and after it, people from the socially vulnerable categories who sew the products from the textile waste.

"Glasen textilec" has been working on the same problem for years. Kristina Ampeva from "Glasen Textilec" says that as an association formed by female textile workers, they have a fair amount of knowledge of working with textile waste, wool production. He points out that with the support of the "Kvinna till Kvinna" foundation, they have had the opportunity these two years to work more deeply on that segment and refers to real economic empowerment of women through social enterprises or cooperatives.

- In addition, during the corona crisis, many women from the textile sector lost their jobs (single mothers, chronically ill, mothers of children up to 10 years old), so we also saw in action the lack of that lon-production at a time when no one cared came to fashion pieces and brands due to the fact that the whole world was closed and we were at home. In addition, the green agenda that was imposed on us as a necessity, and in which fast fashion is in second place as a global polluter, made us follow the experiences in the world and the region. Our follow-up was about: how to work with textiles and be well paid and have a livable wage, how to create workplaces that have appropriate conditions and a nice working atmosphere, workplaces whose mission is to share profits equally, and part and for planning new jobs for women and persons at social risk, but also how to be responsible for the environment with significantly reduced textile waste, and at the same time contribute to new and well-paid jobs, says Ampeva.

He notes that a strategy is needed, but also a law for social enterprises and cooperatives, and it was during the corona crisis that they showed and proved that they are stable and resistant, unlike typical companies.

- We also saw in our country that women who lost their jobs during the corona crisis started sewing masks, bags, promotional materials and had solid incomes after losing their jobs. But we still need legislation and monitoring of positive practices, such as in Poland, funds and greater understanding from the authorities that this is a model of the future that is solidary, fair, takes care of the most vulnerable, is socially and socially responsible, and also takes care of environmental protection and new and paid jobs are created from waste, says Ampeva.

600 to 700 tons of textile waste ends up at the Stip landfill

The analyzes of the Foundation for Local Development of the Community show that 600 to 700 tons of textile waste end up at the Shtip landfill "Treštena Skala" instead of being recycled, that is, used for the production of new textile products.

The director of the Stip communal enterprise "Isar", Trajche Zdravkov, explains to MIA that about 30.000 tons of different waste arrive at the landfill every year, of which he confirms that 600 to 700 tons are from Stip's confections, which makes up about three percent of the total waste . It is agreed that this waste enters with 40 percent, but if it is taken into the part of industrial waste, which arrives at the landfill from all industrial facilities in the Municipality of Shtip.

The municipal inspector in the Municipality of Shtip, Borche Vezenkov, says that it is good that the new Law on the use of textile waste, oils and vehicle tires will enter into force on January 1, 2023.

- According to the new Law, Article 52, the mayor has the obligation to determine locations where this waste will be sorted. It is planned in the places where containers for primary selection will be placed, and you know that in several locations in the city there are color containers, for plastic, paper and glass, I hope that containers for separate selection of textile waste, says Vezenkov.

Last summer, the Stip landfill was set on fire by unknown perpetrators, burning all kinds of waste, including textiles. The burning of the landfill is also a pollution of the environment, and an unpleasant smell was felt in the surrounding villages and the city.

Textile waste is also used as energy

The fashion industry is one of the polluters of the environment, due to the inappropriate use of waste. Marijana Acevski-Tomovska from the Textile Confection "Zlatex"-Skopje says that the modern way of living requires thinking in a different way about the quality of the environment. The textile cluster has been trying for a long time to find a way to treat textile waste while respecting environmental standards. Until some time ago, all textile waste ended up in landfills. However, with the realization of the regional project "Energy from waste for the cement industry from the Western Balkans", with the direct support of the German Society for International Cooperation, conditions were created for the use of industrial textile waste as an alternative fuel in a cement plant.

- With this project, we are doing it in a way that we take the textile waste to the "Usje" Cement Plant, where it is burned at a very high temperature and turned into fuel, while not releasing harmful gases into the air. A second benefit is that, in cooperation with the Customs Administration, the procedure for destroying textile waste is simplified, and no less important benefit is that the costs are reduced, said Acevski-Tomovska.

Direct importers have the capacity to collect and transport waste, but small producers depend on the organizers, points out Ljupka Miladinova-Jambazovski from the textile confection "Albatros"-Shtip.

- Carrying the waste to Cementarnica should be organized by the companies themselves, so it should be done regularly, and now with the new increased costs, it will still be a slightly bigger burden for the companies, says Miladinova-Jambazovski.

According to the business sector, institutional support is needed for the project to come to life in the entire territory, but they believe that this is an excellent business idea, which will contribute to a clean and healthy environment.

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