Responses on the ground:
brand pilots, blend‑recycling trials, second‑hand growth
Factory in Hong Kong
At a factory in Fanling, the hum of recycling machines fills the air, whilst in the workshop next door, a few sorting workers sit removing buttons and trimmings from garments one by one.
MilMill, the only paper-packaged beverage recycling factory in Hong Kong who started recycling cotton and linen clothing due to the acquisition of new equipment in 2023, which is pulped to provide fibres for use as raw material in paper production.
Gary Cheung Yik-wai, who worked for three years as marketing manager at MilMill, was checking the progress in the workroom on the day the partner clothing company delivered the unwanted garments.
Cheung is the marketing manager at MilMill.
The large bags that have just been unloaded from the lorry are full of clothes from several premium brands, waiting to be sorted and sent for mechanical recycling. Many of them are still relatively new styles.
“We have partnered with a number of premium clothing brands. Whereas previously they would send garments that were out of season, returned or otherwise unsellable to be discarded, they now send them to our factory for recycling, where the fabrics are pulped and turned into paper,” said Cheung.
Factory workers place the sorted clothes into a cotton and linen pulping machine, which shreds the fibres and eventually turns into a pulp of fibres.
The pulper shreds the fibres of the fabric, which are later purified to remove impurities.
These pulps undergo a purification process to remove non-fibrous impurities. After concentration, they proceed to the dewatering stage, where the dewatering machine presses the pulp to form pulp sheets.
“We prefer fabrics made from pure cotton and linen, and we are unable to recycle fast fashion (synthetic fibres),” Cheung said.
“We had previously announced on social media that we would be starting to collect cotton and linen garments, but we ended up receiving a huge amount of synthetic fibre clothing from residents,” he said.
Cheung also said that MilMill had received a lot of unwanted clothes without labels.
“This cannot be blamed on the public. Without a label, people wouldn’t know whether the clothes are made of cotton or not, and they simply gave them to us out of a desire not to waste them,” he added.
MilMill downcycles the received garments to produce remade paper.
When asked for his views on the feasibility of the government providing funding, Cheung said that there are also drawbacks to this approach.
“Recycling involves high costs. It would, of course, be beneficial if the government were to provide funding to retailers or recycling plants to boost the incentive for collecting old clothes,” said Cheung.
“But what happens once the funding scheme comes to an end? Without the financial incentive, it is unlikely that many people will continue with the scheme, making it unsustainable,” he said.
In its response to the email interview, the Environmental Protection Department does not directly answer any questions about the feasibility of the proposal to provide any funding.
Fashion industry
When asked what the fashion industry could do, Pearl Leung said that she agrees that the circular economy is key.
“The circular economy allows clothes, materials and fibres to remain in use for as long as possible within the economic system。 It is a system that can counteract fast fashion,” said Leung.
According to a 2020 report by the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), as the impetus for realising sustainable and high-quality development, the circular economy has gradually achieved consensus within the fashion industry.
Reducing resource use, waste production, and pollution throughout the entire economic system is at the heart of the circular economy. Resources will be repurposed and used in the circular system, and waste streams can be converted into inputs for new procedures.
According to Textile Industry’s article, circular fashion is the effort to make things last longer, made of environment-friendly materials. (Source: Textile Industry)
One of the strategic focuses for fashion brands is material innovation. A growing number of well-known companies have made explicit commitments to search for alternatives to conventional fibres, such as bio-based fibres, recycled fibres, and high-tech or special-function fibres.
For instance, H&M Group promises on its website to source 100% recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030, including recycled fibres; Inditex (Zara) intends on the website that 100% of the cotton, linen, viscose, and polyester used in their products will be recycled or have a more sustainable origin by 2025; and Nike used recycled materials in 76% of its footwear and clothing in fiscal year 2019, according to its FY19 report.
Inditex states on its website that Zara has reduced unit water consumption in the production processes within its supply chain by over 25% between 2020 and 2025.
Slow fashion
Slow fashion is viewed by the industry as the opposite of fast fashion. It prioritises classic, timeless designs over fleeting trends, and aims to create enduring garments, while tailoring, altering and mending clothing are also outcomes of slow fashion, countering the damage and impact caused by fast fashion, according to research conducted in 2024 by Sasha Sarokin and Bocken.
Local slow fashion brands include Kibo, according to the brand website, it is known for producing stylish, eco-conscious footwear made from renewable materials like apple leather. And Róu So, which uses next-generation materials like bamboo lyocell and Repreve (recycled plastic) to create clothing and swimwear, according to its website.
“If we instead choose slow fashion, which is more timeless pieces, and purchasing better quality garments and wearing them for longer, we would generate far less textile waste,” said Leung.
Leung agrees that, for the general public, not everyone can afford more eco-friendly and durable slow fashion designer brands, so it is understandable that they choose relatively cheaper fast fashion instead.
“This is indeed a vicious circle. The public inevitably chooses fast fashion because it offers outstanding value for money. However, as technology advances, if polyester cannot be replaced in cheaper clothing, I believe new, affordable plant-based fibres will emerge, and I am confident that technologies will eventually be developed to recycle polyester fibres,” she said.
The technology to recycle polyester fibres is now available in Hong Kong
Green Machine: What is it? And how does it work?
At the Open Lab in Tseung Kwan O, workers operate AI-powered robots to retrieve the just-separated cotton fibres and polyester fibre slivers.
Open Lab is an initiative by H&M Foundation and The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel Limited, which was established in 2006, to advance the textile industry through applied research and developing innovative recycling systems. It is funded by the Innovation and Technology Commission of the government, and hosted by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, according to HKRITA’s website.
With its patented technology, "Green Machine" is the only fibre recycling system in Hong Kong capable of breaking down fibres from old polyester and cotton garments.
Workers use AI robots to manipulate cotton fibres that have undergone hydrothermal treatment
“Most garments now use a blend of polyester and cotton to provide better moisture-wicking properties. Our company has conducted research which shows that over half of the clothes on the market are made from blended fabrics. In the past, these blended fabrics could not be recycled,” said Ryan Wong, the business development manager of HKRITA.
Open Lab works in partnership with local recycling organisations to collect old clothing, whilst also collecting old uniforms, towels and other items from local property management companies and hotels for recycling. The yarn produced from the recycled materials is sold to various businesses or collaborates with garment factories to produce and sell finished fabrics.
Wong said that the lifecycle of clothing is a linear, one-way journey, from production to use, and then, taking Hong Kong as an example, most will go to the landfill, where it becomes waste.
“All we need to do is transform clothing with a linear lifecycle into a closed-loop, sustainable system of reuse,” he said.
From a garment made of a cotton-polyester blend, to two separate materials, then to yarn, and finally to a new finished garment, all of this can be achieved at Open Lab with a few steps now.
A hydrothermal processing machine strips the cotton, breaking it down into cellulose and separating out the polyester. The workers place the fabric scraps produced after the water-heat separation process into an opening machine, where they are pulled apart into finer fibres.
After the cleaning, carding and drawing stages were completed, the fibres had now been transformed into a long sliver of spinnable fibre.
The workers take the fibre strip to the ring spinning machine to refine it further.
Ring spinning involves drawing out the fibre strands from the roving and refining them into yarn suitable for weaving.
“To transform a linear process into a circular one, relying solely on the recycling step is not enough. Education is also vital, if we have only the recycling technology but nobody knows how to take their clothes for recycling, we cannot create this circular economy,” Wong added.
“Once everyone has this awareness, from plastic bottles to paper products and finally to clothing, I believe there is a promising recycling future ahead. Most importantly, we can transform clothing that has lost its value into something valuable once again,” he said.
Clothing reused
Yvonne Wong, a fourth-year university student who runs an online shopping review blog on Rednote (Xiaohongshu), said that a recent trend among young people is helping to foster a mindset that encourages people to reduce clothing waste.
“There is a recent trend known as ‘long-termism’, with many bloggers showing their audiences how to choose durable, timeless pieces of clothing and encouraging people to adopt a classic, sustainable lifestyle rather than a throwaway one,” she said.
“There are also more and more bloggers who show people how to transform their old clothes into stylish new outfits, or turn them into bags and accessories,” she added.
Karen Wong shares the same view. “There are now many influencers online promoting the concept of ‘decluttering’ and a minimalist lifestyle; if more and more people follow the trend, I believe it can eventually help reduce waste,” she said.
Redress collaborates with its designers to organise regular workshops on upcycling old clothes.
Leung often organises free upcycling workshops at Redress.
Leung led an upcycling workshop turning unwanted T-shirts into a tote bag at The Redress Closet on March 7.
Shortly after the event began, the second floor of the Redress shop soon filled up with attendees. Some people had brought along their own old clothes.
“When Pearl Leung brought out those second-hand clothes that others had discarded, the pile looked as good as new, some were even the latest styles. It was such a waste,” one of the participants said. People holding those almost brand-new clothes let out a series of sighs.
To make a new tote bag, every participant first takes an old item of clothing provided by Leung and cuts off the sleeves and the hem, and ties some knots.
“Workshops like this are really meaningful. We can learn how to turn old clothing into something that can be reused. It would be such a waste to simply throw it away,” a participant who has attended three upcycling workshops said.
The end result will be a vintage-style fabric pouch with tassels.
Thrifting is the practice of buying second-hand clothes and items. Originally seen as a way to save money, it has now evolved into a matter of status and value as awareness of sustainability and environmental protection has grown, becoming a way for young people to express their personal style and fashion sensibilities, according to a 2019 study.
ThredUp is one of the world's largest online consignment and thrift stores, according to its 2025 resale report, the global second-hand clothing market is projected to reach US$367 billion (around HK$2.86 trillion) by 2029, growing at a rate 2.7X faster than the overall global clothing market, with Generation Z being the main driver of this growth.
“The ‘vintage’ trend is still going strong. On social media, many young people are sharing the treasures they’ve ‘unearked’ from second-hand shops, and it has become a trend amongst Gen Z as a way of expressing themselves and their unique style,” Yvonne Wong said.
The Redress Closet is a secondhand clothing store in Sham Shui Po, operated by environmental NGO Redress.
“After being collected from Redress recycling bins, the items are sorted, and approximately 10 to 15% undergo thorough disinfection before being sent to shops for sale,” the cashier from The Redress Closet said.
The clothes sold at The Redress Closet range in price from around HK$100 to 400, and it also includes some luxury brands.
Green Ladies & Green Little is a second-hand clothes shop established by St. James' Settlement in 2008 that also promotes the reuse of fashion and accepts items on consignment from customers.
Before opening time, the shop assistant takes stock of the clothes received from consignors and arranges them on the racks, sorting them by colour. The clothes still carry the scent of washing-up liquid, mingled with the smell of old clothes.
Petty Lee, St. James’ Settlement Green Ladies Project Manager, said that this year marks the 18th anniversary of Green Ladies, which now has over 45,000 members.
“Green Ladies has around 27,000 members who consign their items; taking the Wan Chai store as an example, more than forty consignors visit every day to consign their unwanted clothing,” she said.
Green Ladies & Green Little expanded into children’s clothing in 2016, selling second-hand kidswear.
Green Ladies & Green Little accepts consignment of seasonal clothing and selects items primarily based on their quality. Whether fast fashion, online purchases, or even luxury brands are accepted for consignment, according to Lee.
Lee pushed open the door to the changing room. On the wall were three hooks and some eye-catching signs: “Yes” on the left, “Second Thought” in the middle, and “No” on the right.
“Every one of our physical stores, regardless of size, has a fitting room, as we strongly encourage all customers to try items on before carefully considering whether to make a purchase, thereby avoiding wasteful impulse buying,” said Lee.
Every piece of clothing from Green Ladies & Green Little features a label listing environmental information relating to the resources used in the garment's production.
“To avoid waste, as well as buying second-hand clothes, there are actually many exchange and swap platforms available that are well worth considering. At the same time, when buying clothes, we should think carefully about whether we ‘need’ them or simply ‘want’ them, as the latter can easily lead to items being discarded after only a few wears,” Lee added.