Quebec businesses aim to establish a textile reusing manufacturing sector

In Quebec, the textile waste problem has been on the rise. Since 2011, the volume of discarded textiles has increased by over 114%, according to recent data. This surge is attributed to the ultrafast fashion model, which encourages the rapid and cheap production of new clothing collections. Platforms like Shein and Temu renew their collections every week, or even daily, at unbeatable prices.

However, the lack of resources to sort, wash, or repair defective pieces means that these clothes often end up in landfills. Marie-Michèle Larivière, a lecturer at UQAM, has highlighted this issue.

In an attempt to combat this problem, several initiatives have emerged. One such initiative is Anagram Lab, a company based in Prévost, which has developed a hybrid material capable of integrating up to 60% of recycled textile fibers. Geneviève Langlois, one of the co-founders, worked in the textile industry for 24 years before establishing the company.

Unfortunately, as of December 2023, there is no known company named Anagram Lab with this specific focus in Prévost. There could be several reasons for this. It's possible that the name or location provided is incorrect, or that the company is a very young startup and not yet publicly documented. Another possibility is that the company has no internet presence.

In Quebec, Next Chance is another company making strides in textile recycling. They have rescued about 37,000 meters of fabric, approximately 13 times the length of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge. The recovered textile waste is ground and incorporated into a matrix composed of 90% textile fibers and 10% fungal inoculum to create durable gift wrap and other objects.

L'Atelier du partage, a thrift store in Kamouraska, partners with Kawina Robichaud to recover textile waste. Robichaud uses mycotechnology to transform clothing destined for landfill into durable objects. Mycotechnology involves using mycelium, the vegetative part of mushrooms, to transform textile waste. The mixture is then molded, dried, and transformed into various objects such as cachepots, acoustic panels, or mannequins.

Despite these efforts, the quality of the clothes put on the market remains a significant obstacle to recycling. The appearance of disposable and ultrafast fashion produces clothing of lower quality at an incredibly fast pace, making it difficult to recycle these items into reusable fibers. Marianne-Coquelicot Mercier, an advisor in circular economy specialised in the textile industry, has stated that it's extremely complex to recycle clothes to make new reusable fibers due to the rarity of equipment capable of performing "defibering" and the difficulty of removing hard points like zippers, buttons, or elastics on a large scale.

The problem of textile waste is compounded by the fact that thrift stores are overflowing with unsellable donations, either too damaged or impossible to repair. In 2023, at least 344,000 tons of textile waste were generated across the province, primarily consisting of clothing thrown into the trash and sent to landfills.

As the fashion industry continues to evolve, it's crucial to find sustainable solutions to manage textile waste. Initiatives like those taken by Next Chance, Anagram Lab (if it exists), and L'Atelier du partage, as well as the use of innovative technologies like mycotechnology, offer promising steps towards a more sustainable future.