THE AFTERLIFE OF CLOTHES

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IN

DEGREE PROJECT ARCHITECTURE, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS

STOCKHOLM SWEDEN 2020,

THE AFTERLIFE OF CLOTHES

Exploring the Relationship to Contemporary Urban Production Through Textile Recycling

HANNA WAHLBERG

KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

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Environmental impact from Swedish clothing consumption in terms of product phase

disposal 3 %

consumer wash 3 % consumer transport 11 %

distribution and store 3 %

production 80 %

TURKEY

CHINA

BANGLADESH

In 2016 the consumption of textile in Sweden was nearly 14 kg per person and year, which equals the weight of 14 t-shirts, 5 pairs of jeans, 7 hoodies and 2 coats.

The amount of clothes given to charity organisations is almost 4 kg per person and year, which equals 2 t-shirts, 2 hoodies, 1 pair of jeans and 1 coat. 72 % (in black) of the collected textile is exported. (2016)

5 kg textile per person and year is thrown in the household waste, which equals the weight of 4 t-shirts, 4 hoodies and 2 pairs of jeans. Nearly 60 % (in black) of the thrown textile is in good condition and could be used again. (2014)

The measured amount of second hand clothing sold through web-based solutions accounts for 0,13 kg per person and year, which equals the weight of 1 cap, although this is assessed to be a low number. (2017)

1 - CULTIVATION

preparation — The cotton fields needs preparation before the seeds are planted.

This usually involves ploughing and secondary tillage which requires machinery and labour.

planting — The seeds are planted with a seeder machine.

tending — Before harvesting the crops needs water for irrigation. In conventional cotton production pesticides, fertilizers and insecticides are used which requires machinery and labour.

harvesting — When the crop is ready to be harvested a cotton harvesting machine is used to collect the plant, which involves labour.

ginning — The ginning process is used to separate fibers from the seed, using a machine which requires labour.

packaging — The fiber is packed in bales which is done through a cotton baling press, operated by labour.

transporting — The cotton bales are transported to a processing plant.

2 - PRODUCTION

opening bales — In the processing plant the cotton bales are opened and the processing starts.

blending — The fibers are blended to achieve desired quality. This step is done in a machine which requires labour.

cleaning — To further remover non-fibrous material, cleaning machines are used. The machines uses mechanical action and directed air flow to separate the cotton fiber.

carding — The separated cotton fibers goes through a carding process. Wire- covered cylinders are used to straighten the fiber.

spinning — Cotton-spinning machines are used to spin the fiber into workable yarn or thread. The factory building need to have a humidification systems to create the right conditions during this process.

knitting — Knitted cotton is prepared on automatic knitting machinery.

The factory building need to have a humidification systems to create the right conditions during this process.

weaving — Weaved cotton is prepared on automatic power looms. The factory building need to have a humidification systems to create the right conditions during this process.

singeing — Once the fabric is made, it is passed fabrics over a flame that burns

‘fuzz’ off the surface which leaves it looking smoother.

desizing — For woven fabric that uses sizing material to improve the strength during weaving, the sizing materials needs to be removed. The traditional desizing method for cotton uses an a-amylase enzyme to catalyze the hydrolysis of the sizing materials into water-soluble pieces. The desizing solution is maintained at pH 6–7.5, and a hot water rinse follows the desizing procedure. 5 g/L of NaCl and 1 g/L of a nonionic wetting agent are often included.

scouring — Natural fibers, such as cotton and wool, can contain unwanted residues (waxes). The process of removing these residues is called scouring.

Conventional scouring of cotton fabric involves a high-temperature treatment with a solution containing alkali, wetting agent, and detergent. A chelating agent is often added to the scouring solution to complex any heavy metals present in the cotton.

bleaching — In the bleaching process, chemicals are applied to produce a whiter, more evenly colored material for dyeing. Cotton is typically bleached with oxidative chemistry, most often with hydrogen peroxide as the active bleaching agent. Bleaching with hydrogen peroxide requires alkaline conditions to activate the bleaching agent and a stabilizer (often sodium silicate) to control the reaction rate, in order to avoid excessive fiber damage.

mercerising — Mercerising is used to swell cotton fibers and improve their strength and appearance

by the use of sodium hydroxide. Typical 31–35% sodium hydroxide solution are applied at a temperature of 15–18 °C and then soaked for 55 seconds while maintaining warp tension. The alkali solution is washed off while restoring the fabric width.

drying — During these processes (singeing - mercerising) subsequent washing and drying are required. Many of these processes also involves the use of strong, potentially harmful chemicals as well as significant volumes of water, and generate a large amount of contaminated waste water.

quality control — Quality of the fabric is controlled through a system. Common properties evaluated are; water drop absorbency, fabric pH, fiber damage from preparation, mercerization (in cotton), bleaching efficiency, tearing and breaking strength.

packaging — The fabric is packaged for transportation to a confectionery factory.

transportation — The fabric is transported to a confectionery factory.

cutting — The fabric is cut into a pattern. Waste material from cutting is normally 15-20 % from the incoming material.

sewing — The garment is sewed together.

dyeing — Dyeing can be done during different times of the process and by different methods. Reactive dye is beneficial to use when the confectioning is done, to achieve satisfactory penetration of the critical areas of the garment. Reactive dye includes four basic steps; exhaustion, where the dye is transferred from the dyebath to the fibre; fixation, where the reaction takes place to fix the dye to the fibre;

and post-dye washing, where any excess dye is removed to give acceptable colour fastness. The final stage is to apply a softening agent as appropriate.

spin drying — On completion of dyeing, the garments are subjected to a hydro- extraction (spin drying) process to remove excess water, followed by tumble drying.

quality check — The garments are controlled regarding shade, color fastness, handle and garment dimensions.

finishing — The garments are pressed, followed by the attachment of any embellishments such as sequins, leather patches, etc., which would not have withstood the dyeing process. The care label is then attached, plus labels indicating size, retailer’s identification and any promotional material as required.

metal detector — The garments may be passed through a metal detector to check for the presence of fragments of knitting or sewing needles that may have been broken during manufacture.

packaging — Finally the garments are either packed flat or hung individually on rails before being placed in a 20- or 40-foot long metal container for shipment.

Although the flat-packing method makes better use of the space within the container, the garments are prone to creasing, and may need to be pressed in the country of destination before being sent to the retail outlet.

3 - DISTRIBUTION AND RETAIL

transportation — The finished products are transported to the country of destination by either truck, train, sea freight or air freight.

storage — The products are stored in a warehouse for further distribution to physical stores and e-commerce.

distribution — From the warehouse the products are transported to physical stores and e-commerce.

physical store — In the physical store the products are displayed and hanged according to a layout created by a visual merchandiser. The stores provide fitting room for the costumers. To create an experience the stores uses scents and music to enhance the brand.

salesperson — The salesperson offers help and promote the products.

advertisement — Through various medium the brands use advertisement to promote the products.

store window — The physical stores expose the products to the street through the store window.

costumers — Either walking in to the physical store or browsing the web shop.

user transportation — To go to and from the physical stores or the pick up- point for e-commerce includes transportation which includes various means, like walking, biking our using the car.

social media — The brands uses social media as part of their marketing.

web shop — The web-shop works as a medium to display and purchase products.

packaging — Both garments purchased online and in store are packaged. Plastic bags, cardboard boxes, paper bags and gift-wrapping boxes are used.

delivery — The products are transported to pick up-points and collected by the costumer.

4 - USE

wearing — When wearing, garments are exposed to spots and stains, odor, breaking and tearing.

air out — Hanging garments in fresh air to get rid of smell.

washing — Requires energy and water and use of detergents. When washing clothes from synthetic fibers, micro-plastics are released into the water, which ends up in the sea. Variables such as temperature, frequency and how full the washing machine is affects the impacts.

drying — After washing the clothes are either air dried or tumble dried.

ironing — Some garments wrinkle and are ironed to keep looking smooth.

mending — Various techniques to mend damaged clothes, like sewing or patching.

5 - RECYCLING

household waste — Clothes that are thrown in the household waste in Stockholm are collected to Högdalsverket where they are burnt and partly converted to electricity and district heating.

recycling center — Bromma & Lövsta: Municipal recycling centers that offers collection of textile. They are currently part of a research project called SIPTex.

The collected textile is used in the project. The research facility is located in Avesta.

Sätra, Vantör & Östberga: Municipal recycling centers that offers collection of textile. Clothes collected here are taken care of by the municipality’s subcontractor Myrorna. Roslagstull: municipal recycling centers that offers collection of textile.

The collected clothes are taken care of by the municipality’s subcontractor Emmaus.

donation bin — Numerous charity organisations provide donation bins in various neighborhoods.

home pick-up — Charity organizations offers collection of textile from peoples homes.

sorting — All clothes that are collected are sorted and distributed in different flows depending och quality and trends.

transportation — Clothes that are in good quality and in trend are transported to the charity organisations store.

store — From the stores the clothes can potentially be reused. If they are not soled they are transported back to the sorting center.

export — Clothes that are not sold locally are exported.

sorting abroad — The clothes are sorted, typically for reuse, down-cycling or energy recovery. Swedish clothing have a good reputation on the global market, which leads to a high rate of reuse.

reuse abroad — Clothes are sorted and sold on the second hand market.

recycle abroad — Clothes are sorted and down-cycled mechanically. The fibers are used in insulation etc.

energy recovery abroad — Clothes are sorted and burnt and partly converted to heating or electricity.

landfill abroad — Clothes are sorted and end up in a landfill.

THE AFTERLIFE OF CLOTHES

Exploring the Relationship to Contemporary Urban Production Through Textile Recycling

HANNA WAHLBERG · DEGREE PROJECT IN URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN SUPERVISED BY ALEJANDRA NAVARRETE LLOPIS

Biblioteksgatan , Stockholm. A space that reflects the activity of consuming clothes.

THE GENERAL STEPS IN THE LIFE OF A BLACK COLORED COTTON T-SHIRT

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT FROM SWEDISH CLOTHING CONSUMPTION IN TERMS OF PRODUCT PHASE/

LARGEST GARMENT PRODUCING COUNTRY FOR SWEDISH CONSUMPTION

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2020.02.05 WATER ENERGY POLLUTANTS WEIGHT

7 KG CAPACITY 3,5 kg FIBERS cotton, polyester,

elastane 600 000 microfibers

TEMPERATURE 40°

TIME 60 min 53 l 1.23 kWh

DETERGENTS Neutral Color + Neutral Fabric

Conditioner DRYING METHOD tumbel drying 30

line dryingmin 4,39 kWh

2020.02.10 WATER ENERGY POLLUTANTS

WEIGHT

7 KG CAPACITY 3,3 kg FIBERS cotton, polyester,

elastane 600 000 microfibers

TEMPERATURE 40°

TIME 60 min 53 l 1.23 kWh

DETERGENTS Neutral Color DRYING METHOD tumbel drying 30

line dryingmin 4,39 kWh

2020.02.16 WATER ENERGY POLLUTANTS

WEIGHT

7 KG CAPACITY 2 kg

FIBERS viscose, wool

TEMPERATURE 30°

TIME 44 min 49 l 1.23 kWh

DETERGENTS Neutral Color DRYING METHOD line drying SALTSJÖN

MENDING KIT IRONING

WASHING & TUMBLE DRYING

WARDROBE AIR OUT LINE DRYING LAUNDRY DIARY

1. In Flow

2. Pretreatment ltration 3. Grit Removal

4. ChemicalPrecipitation 5. Primary Sedimentation

A. Wardrobe B. Ironing

C. Laundry Basket D. Mending Kit E. Air Drying

F. Washing & Tumble Drying G. Air Out

6. Pump Station Before Biological Treatment 7. Aeration Tanks

8. Air Compressors 9. Sedimentation

10. Chemical Precipitation With Ferrous Sulfate 11. Pump Station Before Filtration

12. Grit Removal 13. Sludge Treatment

14. Gasometer

15. Centrifugal Sludge Tickeners 16. Sludge Tanks

17. Gas Engines

18. Boilers 19. Ventilation

20. Collection of Organic Waste 21. Out Flow

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It is clear that the production phase stands for the biggest impact.

Water usage, pesticides and harmful chemicals are some of the factors.

Moving form this, I wanted to see if actions in the post-consumption phase could be worked on, to basically prevent production. Starting in the use phase, where processes of washing and caring for the clothes occur. To understand this I’m working on a self study, mapping the spaces, processes and usage of water, energy, detergents and so on. But also the relation of the domestic space to the urban systems.

One issue here is the release of micro

plastics, which ends up in our waters.

In my case the water from my washing machine, goes to Henrikdals water treatment plant, where it’s being cleaned but current cleaning process lacks filters to collect micro-plastics, which means that they are released into Saltsjön and in extension the Baltic sea. In the bottom right corner is an example of the laundry diary I kept during the project.

HANNA WAHLBERG · DEGREE PROJECT IN URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN THE AFTERLIFE OF CLOTHES · 02 03

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Högdalsverket

Clothes that are thrown in the household waste are collected to Högdalsverket where they are burnt and partly converted to electricity and district heating.

Bromma & Lövsta

Municipal recycling centers that offers collection of textile. They are currently part of a research project called SIPTex. The collected textile is used in the project. The research facility is located in Avesta.

Sätra, Vantör & Östberga

Municipal recycling centers that offers collection of textile. Clothes collected here are taken care of by the municipality’s subcontractor Myrorna.

Roslagstull

Municipal recycling center that offers collection of textile. Clothes collected here are taken care of by the municipality’s subcontractor Emmaus.

Emmaus Donation Bin

Clothes donated to Emmaus are collected by truck to Emmaus sorting center in Västberga.

Emmaus Store

In the store people can donate clothes. The donated clothes are taken to Västberga sorting center by truck. After sorted, part of the clothes are taken to the store by truck. Garments that are not sold are sent back to Västberga.

Emmaus Sorting Center

People can donate clothes to the sorting center in Västberga. Here all the sorting of donated garments happens. Around 30 % of the collected textile is introduced to the local market again.

The rest is sold on the global market.

Emmaus Pick-Up

Emmaus offers to collect clothes from the inner city of Stockholm. The clothes are collected from people homes by truck and taken to the sorting center in Västberga.

Myrorna Store

In the stores people can donate clothes. The donated clothes are taken to Tungelsta sorting center (outside of Stockholm) by truck.

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DONATION BIN, BRÄNNKYRKAGATAN 127, STOCKHOLM. STORE WINDOW, PETER MYNDES BACKE 8, STOCKHOLM. EMMAUS SORTING CENTER, VRETENBORGSVÄGEN 6, STOCKHOLM.

Bromma & Lövsta

From the municipal recycling centers Bromma and Lövsta, the collected textile is transported to Avesta, where the research project SIPTex currently is running.

Avesta Research Facility

In the research facility, automated textile sorting is tested in a lab.

Myrorna Stores

From the stores in Stockholm the collected textile is transported to Myrornas sorting facility in Tungelsta.

Myrorna Sorting Center

From Sätra, Vantör and Östberga recycling center the subcontractor Myrorna take care of the collected textile. The textile is transported to Tungelsta sorting center.

19 % Back to Store

Myrorna manages to sell 19 % of the collected textile (apart from the clothes that goes to the research project) in the local market, which includes Örebro, Eskilstuna, Uppsala, Västerås and Stockholm stores.

9 % Energy Recovery

A part of the collected textil goes directly to energy recovery.

70 % Export

Of the total textile collected to Tungelsta 70

% is sold on the global market and treated accordingly.

Reuse 69 %

Recycling 25 %

Energy recovery 5 %

Landfill 1 %

Emmaus Sorting Center

raw material producer

fibre producer

yarn producer

fabric producer

garment producer

retailer

user ^burning heat or

electricity

fabric, fibre recycling

rags, blankets, insulation

fabric recycling

fibre recycling

monomer, oligomer, polymer recycling

bottles

Reuse

Open-loop recycling (downcycling)

Closed-loop recycling (up- or downcycling) Energy recovery

HANNA WAHLBERG · DEGREE PROJECT IN URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN

Moving to the disposal phase, this map shows the current public system of collecting and treating clothes in Stockholm. Clothes that are thrown in the household waste are collected to Högdalsverket where they are burned and partly converted to heat and electricity. For the public recycling centers Bromma and Lövsta, collected clothes are currently used in a research project on automated sorting. For Sätra, Vantör and Östberga, collected clothes are taken care of by the municipality’s subcontractor Myrorna.

For Roslagstull, collected clothes are taken care of by the municipality’s

subcontractor Emmaus. Emmaus also collects clothes from their donation bins, in their store and by picking up from peoples homes in the inner city.

All collected clothes are taken to their sorting facility in Västberga. From there, around 30 % are introduced to the local market again, while the other 70 % is sold on the global market. The photo to the left of a donation bin and in the middle, the store window, represents what people see of the process, clothes goes in the bin and ends up in the store. The photo to the right, the sorting center is not a visible part of the process.

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The map in the bottom of the panel shows the global market of post- consumer textile waste, so where the 70 % ends up. From the municipal recycling centers Bromma and Lövsta, the collected textile is transported to Avesta, where the research project SIPTex currently is running. In the research facility, automated textile sorting is tested in a lab. From the stores in Stockholm the collected textile is transported to Myrornas sorting facility in Tungelsta. From Sätra, Vantör and Östberga recycling center the subcontractor Myrorna take care of the collected textile. The textile is transported to Tungelsta sorting center. 9 % of the collected textil goes directly to energy recovery.

Myrorna manages to sell 19 % of the collected textile (apart from the clothes that goes to energy recovery and the research project) in the local market, which includes Örebro, Eskilstuna, Uppsala, Västerås and

Stockholm stores. 70 % of the total textile collected to Tungelsta is sold on the global market where 69 % is reused, 25 % recycled, 5 % goes to energy recovery and 1 % goes to landfill. In my project I wanted to see what happens if we use this textile as a resource rather than a commodity. I took this as the starting point, to see how we can make use of the unwanted textile locally. To circle back textile in the loop again, ways to up-cycle and and down-cycle can be implemented.

We want to avoid energy recovery but also to down-cycle textile into lower value products like insulation, since it leaves the system. Instead we want to reuse garments, remake from existing fabric or actually make new fabric from worn out textile. This leads me to Västberga as my site of intervention, which is the most centrally located industrial area in Stockholm that still allows for production.

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Pedestrian tunnel under highway. Building that will host ateliers (wip).

Temporary housing for young adults.

Emmaus sorting center.

Vegetation seen from pedestrian path below highway.

Variety of industries.

The railway and highway are the dominant infrastructural elements in this area, separating the industrial area from some of the surrounding neighborhoods and the metro stations.

There are some bike and pedestrian paths linking under/over the highway and railway as well as one stretch in the middle of the area. There’s also some disused railway tracks. The main road, Västberga Allé, stretches across the area in north-south direction.

In terms of green structure it’s quite poor, the area consists mainly of hard surfaces. The main road is lined with trees, there’s a park close to the

residential area of Västberga and the old farm house garden still exists.

The existing industries are mainly logistics, construction and vehicle services but there are also companies working with recycling and prints, among others.

To tie back to the fact that Västberga is a centrally located industrial area, that won’t be redeveloped in the nearest future according to the comprehensive plan, actually makes it an important site of production for art as well and for the cultural life in Stockholm. I’ve mapped out existing ateliers in the area and from my research I found that the metal workshop have importance for the production of many artworks. This also adds another layer on who is occupying the space. In connection to that, buildings mapped out in the middle are actually for residential

use. It’s the temporary rental housing, for young adults, which aims to ease the situation in the ongoing housing crisis in Stockholm. Also, the old farm house, Västberga Gård serves as a shelter for socially vulnerable groups. So, the area does not only act as the work environment for people, but also as the living space for some.

Emmaus Sorting Center is located here, so I wanted to use them as a base for my own proposal. I have mapped out the actors that uses materials from textile collection and recycling like textile, plastic, carton and insulation.

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VRETENBORGSVÄGEN

IMPROVE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN AND WITHIN THE AREA

ADD QUALITATIVE

SPACES TO IMPROVE THE EXPERIENCE

JUXTAPOSITION OF WASTE TREATMENT, PRODUCTION (RECYCLING) AND

CONSUMPTION

RECYCLING PROCESS CONNECTING TO ACTORS AND LOCALS

Emmaus as Starting Point of Project

Network of Actors Using Material From Textile Recycling Find Spaces and Buildings to Host Textile Recycling Process in Connection to Emmaus

Connecting Existing Bike and Pedestrian Path With Disused Railway Track to Create a Cross Connection

Weaving Together the Industrial Area by Adding Inner Network of Pedestrian and Bike Paths With Surrounding Residential Area

Housing Ateliers

Existing Green Structure

Adding Qualitative Spaces:

Green, Quiet, Rooftop, Food.

100 m

+

The axonometric drawing shows the input and output of each step and the scale it’s working on. It covers the process of fabric recycling, fiber recycling and down cycling but I’m also shifting the idea of the second hand market as the system for reuse, and instead turning it into a rental system. Fabric recycling takes good quality garments, sorting them in the automated sorting machine according to color and fiber composition.

The textile can be moved by air in pipes.

Going to the disassembling station. Here the garments are prepared by removing zippers and bottons, a process that will generate scrap pieces of textile, which can be used to down cycle into lower value products like insulation, which can be distributed throughout the area.

The good quality textile is stored while waiting to become a new garment. Fiber recycling takes worn out textile gathered from the Stockholm region, sorting it in the automated sorting according to color and fiber. The regenerated fibers are spun into thread. Going to the fabric production the thread is either woven or knitted into fabric. The fabric is stored while waiting to become a new garment or distributed back to other locations in Stockholm. This way of producing allows for an on-demand, highly personalized item. But garments in the rent system will have more universal fit and include special occasion garments and kids clothes. For the rent system, collected clothes are washed and taken care of before being rented.

THE AFTERLIFE OF CLOTHES · 08 09

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400 m

100 m

With the concept of weaving in mind, my strategies to improve the connections between and within the area, to add qualitative spaces, to merge waste treatment, production and consumption and to connect the recycling process to the locals and the actors unfolds here. Having Emmaus as the starting point of the project I have defined a network of actors that uses materials from the textile recycling process, and then finding spaces and buildings to host the recycling process in connection to Emmaus. I’m connecting the existing bike and pedestrian path with the disused railway tracks to create a cross cutting connection and then, weaving together the industrial area by adding an inner network of bike and pedestrian paths with surrounding residential areas. Finally adding the layer of qualitative spaces: like green spaces, quiet spaces, rooftops with a view and places for food. The plan displays the sequence of proposed

buildings along the street. Following one of the added connections through a section, where the residential area is connected to the industrial area under the highway, I’m proposing to connect across the plot, rather than current situation with parking spaces in different levels. The path continues and reaches an existing ramp that today leads up to a rooftop parking.

I’m proposing to use the ramp for bikes and let the rooftop be a green space, with some quiet rooms and a restaurant. To continue the stretch I’m proposing a new ramp that connects with the ground level again which makes it possible to reach all the way to the cross cutting connection.

Bike and Pedestrian Paths Buildings

Local Squares

New Buildings: Relocation

New Buildings: Textile Recycling Process New Bike and Pedestrian Paths

Green Spaces Green Rooftops

PLAN: URBAN CONTEXT

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The buildings framing the streets are laid out in a sequence, following the steps of the recycling process. The movement of the material becomes an important element of the design.

Since fabric is light, it can be moved in pipes, which connects the buildings above street level. The output from each step in the recycling process is being distributed to the industrial area through the inner network of bike and pedestrian paths. The buildings are designed to meet the level differences of the streets for easy access by cargo bike. The spaces around the different facilities are designed to either invite the locals and visitors to take part in the recycling process. This is the case for the automated sorting facility where locals can hand in their clothes. In the chemical recycling facility there’s a

possibility to be part of the creation of the new fabric since it takes the colors and properties of the worn out textile in creating new. The washing facility, the storage space, the confectioning and rental service buildings are also accessible for non-workers. The fabric production facility, the distribution, disassembling and mechanical recycling is more about the workers.

Since some of the movement of the material can not be through pipes, due to previous process of sorting and arranging the material, the disused railway tracks are used as well as a layer of connecting passages above street level. The elevated passages are also accessible for public use, connects the green rooftop spaces and provides a different experience of productive landscapes.

1. Automated Sorting / Collection Point 2. Mechanical Recycling

3. Chemical Recycling Lab / Machine Hall 4. Fabric Production

5. Storage / Distribution 6. Disassembling 7. Washing

8. Confectioning / Restaurant 9. Local Storage / Rental Service

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DEGREE PROJECT IN ARCHITECTURE, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2020

THE AFTERLIFE OF CLOTHES

Exploring the Relationship to Contemporary Urban ProductionThrough Textile Recycling

Hanna Wahlberg

Supervised by Alejandra Navarrete Llopis

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

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summary

The clothes and textiles sold in Sweden is mostly manufactured in countries outside of the EU. The production requires large areas of land and vast amount of water. The environmental impact is big during the production phase in terms of water usage, chemicals and transports. In general, the consumption of new textile is increasing in Sweden, but so is also reused textil.

In 2016 the consumption of textile in Sweden was nearly 14 kg per person and year, which equals the weight of 14 t-shirts, 5 pairs of jeans, 7 hoodies and 2 coats. At the same time 5 kg textile per person and year is thrown in the the household waste and nearly 60 % of the thrown textile is in good condition and could be used again. The amount of clothes given to charity organisations is almost 4 kg per person and year but 70 % of the collected textile is exported.

The collection and recycling of non-reusable textiles in Sweden today is low. Current recycling techniques are mainly energy recovery through incineration. The reasons for this has to do with limitations in the sorting and collection of consumer textile waste or limitation of optional recycling processes. In fact, there is no large scale industrial process to recycle textile into new textile, which leads to an open loop system where input of new materials is required. But there are upcoming technologies that meets the challenges today.

This project explores the dynamics of current ways of treating textile waste. Through learnings from existing system, in combination with new technologies, alternative ways of structuring processes of production, consumption, usages and disposal is proposed with the aim of establishing a new relationship to contemporary urban production.

the challenge

Looking at what activities are given space in cities today, the main program is related to consumption. Shops, cafés and restaurants. This program can be considered the main tool to create public life in cities, which also can be argued to be successful in that aspect. However, the often hidden aspects of these activities, the production and disposal phase, which don’t have a place in the city today have a large environmental and social impact, including use of resources, worker’s conditions, transportation and more. The issue of overconsumption is highly applicable to a high income country like Sweden.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (2018) launched a report looking at what environmental impact Swedish consumption has both within Sweden and abroad. The report covers eﬀects on greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutants, natural resources (including land use, blue water consumption and material use) and environmental pressure from use of chemicals. Separating the consumption from public sector, investments and private consumption, the results shows that more than 50% of the total consumption originates from private consumption. Regarding greenhouse gas and air polluting emission linked to Swedish consumption, 60 % occurs

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abroad (Naturvårdsverket 2018: 40). Looking at environmental pressure related to natural resources, the results shows that the majority of Swedish consumption uses land within Sweden (mostly forestland) while water and material use originates to a higher extent from abroad. 35 % of the land needed for Swedish consumption originates from abroad, while 85 % of the water and 60 % of the materials was sourced from abroad (Naturvårdsverket 2018: 49). When it comes to the use of chemicals the result shows that 75 % of the use and emissions from Swedish consumption occurs abroad (Naturvårdsverket 2018: 60). This shows how the ’backside’

of consumption is pushed far out from the city and often to other, low-income countries.

Overconsumption can be considered an urban problem. Being ’urban’ is strongly related to higher income, lifestyle changes and (greater) consumption habits. The urban population is expected to continue to grow.

Knowing that cities are responsible for 80 % of global resource use and energy consumption and 75 % greenhouse gas emissions the urbanization process poses a major challenge. Understanding the environmental impacts of urban consumption is thus a key factor in tackling the issue. The impacts of consumption can occur both direct and indirect, before or after the user phase and may or may not be visible to the consumer (Lavers Westin et al 2019: 526-527). So, the indirect impacts of consumption occurs in the production and disposal phase.

Consumptive environments are given a place in cities while the production and waste management processes are pushed out and kept away from the consumer. This leads to a lack of understanding of how the items we surround ourselves with are made, the type of work put in to the product and the type of work put in to dispose it. This project investigates alternative ways of structuring processes of production, consumption, use-phase and disposal through the framework of textile recycling.

research question

How can processes of recycling reshape our relationship to productive urban areas?

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methods

LITERATURE REVIEW

territories of consumption, post-industrial cities, approaches to waste

SELF STUDY

analyzing the user-phase, study of spaces, processes and procedure

MAPPING

mapping spaces, processes and actors of current textile waste system in stockholm mapping alternative processes to treat textile waste

CONTEXT

site observation, analyzing maps, plans and historical documents and statistics

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references

Kärrholm, M. (2004). Arkitekturens territorialitet : till en diskussion om territoriell makt och gestaltning i stadens oﬀentliga rum. Lund: Lunds universitet.

Lavers Westin, A., Kalmykova, Y., Rosado, L., Oliveira, F., Laurenti, R. & Rydberg, T. (2019). ”Combining material flow analysis with life cycle assessment to identify environmental hotspots of urban consumption”.

Journal of Cleaner Production. 226: 526-539.

Naturvårdsverket. (2018). Miljöpåverkan från svensk konsumtion — nya indikatorer för uppföljning. Stockholm:

Naturvårdsverket.

Mistra Future Fashion. (2019). The impact of Swedish clothing consumption. Available via: http://

mistrafuturefashion.com/impact-of-swedish-clothing-consumption/ [2020-01-05]

Mistra Future Fashion. (n.d.) Sustainable Fashion. Available via: http://mistrafuturefashion.com/sustainable- fashion/ [2020-01-05]

Myrorna. (n.d.) Myrornas hållbarhetsrapport 2018. Available via: https://www.myrorna.se/wp-content/uploads/

hallbarhetsrapport-2018.pdf [2020-06-12]

Naturvårdsverket. (2019). Fakta om textilavfall. Available via: https://www.naturvardsverket.se/Sa-mar-miljon/

Mark/Avfall/Textilavfall/ [2020-01-05]

Naturvårdsverket (n.d.). Textilkonsumtion per person i Sverige. Available via: http://www.naturvardsverket.se/Sa- mar-miljon/Statistik-A-O/Textil/? [2020-01-05]

Willim, R. (2008). Industrial Cool : om postindustriella fabriker. (Hex; Vol. 2). Lund: Humanistiska fakulteten, Lunds universitet.

Frichot, H. (2019). Dirty Theory – Troubling Architecture. Baunach: AADR (Spurbuchverlag).

Stockholm Vatten och Avfall. (2020). Ny reningsteknik - en vinst för miljön. Available via: https://

www.stockholmvattenochavfall.se/framtidensavloppsrening/aktuellt/nyheter/aktuella-nyheter/nyheter/2020/

ombyggnad-henriksdal/ [2020-06-12]

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Konsumentverket. (2018). Konsumenterna och miljön 2018 — Möjligheter att göra val med miljöhänsyn. Available via: https://www.konsumentverket.se/globalassets/publikationer/var-verksamhet/konsumenterna-och- miljon-2018-17-konsumentverket.pdf [2020-01-05]

SMED. (2016). Plockanalyser av textilier i hushållens restavfall. Available via: https://www.naturvardsverket.se/

upload/miljoarbete-i-samhallet/miljoarbete-i-sverige/regeringsuppdrag/2016/redovisade/plockanalyser-av- textilier-i-hushallens-restavfall-smed-rapport-2016-06-17.pdf [2020-01-05]

Image, panel 01, http://www.bibliotekstan.se/.

Drawing of Henriksdals water treatment plant, panel 02, modified by author from: Stockholm Vatten och Avfall.

(n.d.) Henriksdals avloppsreningsverk — För stockholmarnas och miljöns bästa. Stockholm: Stockholm Vatten och Avfall.

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TRITA ABE-MBT-20350

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