Fashion waste cannot be ignored. Its contribution is significant, according to data from the British Textile Recycling Association, the fashion industry contributes to the second largest pollution in the world. A total of 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions are produced by the textile industry in the world. Meanwhile, data from the European Commission in 2017 stated that the textile industry in the European Union alone produces around 16 million tons of textile waste per year. The majority of this waste ends up in landfills or is incinerated or burned. That is a clear loss because the production consumes millions of tons of water and kilowatts of energy, as well as many hours of human labor.
The situation is no different in Indonesia. Quoted from its.ac.id page, Our Reworked World co-founder Annika Rachmat said that 1 million tons of the 33 million tons of textiles produced in Indonesia end up as waste. So, a strategy is needed to suppress production, such as the upcycle and recycle approach of fashion products.
Fashion trend expert Dina Midiani distinguishes upcycle and recycle through the purpose of the fashion item production process. "Actually, it is similar. Recycling is reprocessing which also extends the life of the goods, but in upcycling, efforts to add value are prioritized. It could be from something that was previously an ordinary product, but the value increases because of the new processing," Friday, January 13, 2023 .
According to Dina, the awareness of both producers and consumers to reduce the amount of clothing waste has begun to spread, along with awareness of the need to protect the environment. Because of this, sustainable fashion actors in Indonesia are also starting to emerge, although he said the number is not too many.
"Those who are experimenting have also started, but their understanding is still mixed. Therefore, we (IFC) and BI are actually making books and videos on sustainable fashion for Muslim fashion, which includes upcycling, for an initial understanding," Dina explained.
