A new partnership dedicated to tackling the impact of textile waste in the football industry has been launched between The University of Manchester and RÆBURN Design – a leading sustainable fashion studio.
The UK disposes of one million tonnes of textiles every year, 300,000 tonnes of which end up in landfill or incineration. Some figures suggest 10% of global CO2 emissions come from the fashion industry.
The football sector is a huge contributor to this - approximately 2.45 million Liverpool and 1.95 million Manchester United sports shirts were sold worldwide in 2021 alone.
The new project, KIT:BAG by RÆBURN, will work with local sportswear suppliers and the local community transform surplus football shirts into unique reusable tote bags, while educating them of the environmental impacts of textile waste and how we can extend the life of our garments.
It aims to provide a fun, responsible way to keep kits in circulation while shining a light on the large-scale problem in the industry.
Lindsay Pressdee, Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Fashion Marketing & Branding Communication at The University of Manchester, said: “Developing meaningful sustainable business models and consumer behaviours remains a key issue within the fashion sector and raises serious environmental concerns.
“This project focuses on the overlooked area of sportswear; how we can extend the life of these polyester garments and avoid them going into landfill or incineration, through the key principle of community education.
“The initiative aligns with The University of Manchester's objectives of promoting sustainability and social responsibility and by collaborating with Raeburn Design, which follows the REMADE sustainable ethos, we have an excellent opportunity to raise awareness and address this issue.”
Christopher Raeburn, Creative Director at RÆBURN, added: “As our business has evolved, we’ve tried, tested and proven our “Remade, Reduced, Recycled” motif can be scaled and translated into other industries outside of fashion, such as architecture, furniture design, film and cultural placemaking.
“KIT:BAG by RAEBURN marks our newest venture: bringing circular design solutions to the sports industry. We’re excited to have the University of Manchester on board as our research partner for this project. Together, we’ve set out a roadmap and a masterplan, now we’re inviting industry leaders to join us on this journey.”
While many solutions are emerging to tackle the problem of sustainable fashion, the size of the problem relating to official sportswear remains unknown.
As research partners, academics from the Department of Materials at The University of Manchester will focus on advancing current knowledge and generating new knowledge in this area. The researchers, including Lindsay Pressdee, Dr Amy Benstead, Dr Jo Conlon and student intern Lena Bartoszewicz, will look at post-consumer waste, diverting it from landfill and repurposing it into a new usable product - a key part of the circular design model.
Lindsay added: “The waste of sportwear is a hidden problem – we know that football teams can have on average three kits per season, but we do not know how many people have in their homes, shoved in their wardrobes, or put away in their lofts.
“The problem requires a multifaceted approach and any change requires collaboration with consumers, sports clubs, garment recycling schemes, sports brands and producers.
“It is difficult to distinguish who is responsible, so we must consider both the sustainable production and consumption of products – a key principle of which is education.”
KIT:BAG by RÆBURN will launch on Thursday, 27 July with a party at The Lab E20 – Raeburn’s creative workspace in London. This will be followed by a community event for children and families on Saturday, 29 July.
The team plan to extend this to Manchester, where they will invite the local community to various workshops and have a go at making their own reusable bags.
* This article was originally published here
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