Textile Waste Is the Raw Material for New Fashion Products

The industrialization of fashion and the consolidation of the Fast Fashion System result in the sale of fashionable clothing products at more affordable prices. The globalized media and fashion communication that disseminate in real time the novelties of fashion clothing causing a programmed obsolescence of the clothes that have already been acquired, stimulating production and consumption. The result is: a lot of waste generated, and many pieces of clothing are no longer purchased, and many clothes are discarded by consumers. Improper disposal of textile waste and post-consumer clothing results in a negative impact on the environment. Currently the city of São Paulo—Brazil is destined to landfills 55 tons/day. Some possible solutions to minimize the impact and to collaborate with SDG 12 which aims to substantially reduce the generation of waste through the Circular Economy and its actions of prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse of waste are the use of Upcycling technique using discarded textiles as raw material and stimulating the Circular Economy. These solutions are presented by the Research Support Center of the University of São Paulo—Brazil conducting the upcycling contest and socio-environmental projects.