Royal Scientific Society hosts national dialogue on textile waste

AMMAN — The Royal Scientific Society, in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), led a national dialogue to explore ways to reuse textile waste. Current practices result in over 100 tonnes of textile waste being buried in landfills. The dialogue aimed to find solutions for managing this waste and exploring the economic benefits of repurposing materials, according to a statement to The Jordan Times.

Government representatives from several ministries, including industry and trade and supply, environment, local administration, and planning and international cooperation, participated. Other attendees included the Vocational Training Corporation, the Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission, the Income and Sales Tax Department, the Department of Statistics and the Municipality of Greater Amman.

The dialogue also included the Jordan and Amman Chambers of Industry, the Jordan Industrial Estates Corporation, Hassan Industrial Estate, the Aqaba Economic Zone, the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation, the German Development Cooperation, clothing factory representatives, private environmental service providers, academics, environmental organisations, fashion designers and civil society organisations.

Participants recommended creating an attractive investment map for dealing with clothing and knitwear waste and establishing a single reliable platform for information. They also suggested appointing a government body to oversee this issue, the statement said.

Challenges discussed included taxes and customs on fabric scraps leaving industrial cities, making recycling economically unfeasible and the competition from cheaper electronic purchasing markets.

Almoayied Assayed, director of the Centre for Water, Environment, and Climate Change at the Royal Scientific Society, presented the objectives of the project funded by the UNEP SwitchMed. The project aims to address challenges and opportunities in the knitwear and clothing sector, proposing environmental policies that encourage investment in recycling fabric scraps and promoting a circular economy.

Assayed highlighted the Royal Scientific Society’s role in providing technical expertise and consultations, especially in sustainability and green growth, according to the statement.

Engineer Ihab Qadri, member of the Board of Directors of the Jordan Chamber of Industry and representative of the leather and textile industries sector, emphasised the economic significance of this sector. He noted that the sector includes around 1,000 establishments with investments exceeding $1.1 billion, employing over 89,000 workers, including 27,000 Jordanians. The sector’s annual exports are valued at more than $2 billion, with export opportunities worth approximately $500 million to global markets.

At the end of the dialogue, participants praised the significance of the discussion, the diversity of its participants, and the need to build on its outcomes to develop the sector and capitalise on its investment opportunities, the statement said.