I love the thrill of ‘adding to cart’ as much as the next person. And like any fashion obsessive would know, to sustain my shopping habits, it’s sometimes necessary to sell or donate the pieces I’m no longer reaching for. Just recently, I underwent the not-so-minor task of uploading what felt like half of my wardrobe to Depop and, with the things that didn’t sell, carting them in bags to my local op shop. It’s a mammoth – though worthwhile – effort, but one that got me thinking: what if the onus wasn’t on the consumer, but fashion brands themselves, to make sure that clothes are properly recycled when we’re finished wearing them?

What is the California clothing waste mandate?

In California, a system like this could soon be reality. The ‘Responsible Textile Recovery Act’ is a new bill proposing that brands and manufacturers take responsibility for recycling, reusing, and repairing old clothes. Specifically, the bill will require any producer of apparel, towels, bedding and upholstery to implement and fund a statewide recycling program for their products. In practice, this would mean that Californian consumers could donate anything from old sheets to last season’s culottes – in any condition – to collection sites across the state where they would be sorted and recycled.

The bill was inspired by increasing rates of textile waste generated across the US, with around 85 percent of all textiles ending up in landfill, despite an estimated 95 percent of commonly used materials – think fabrics, zippers, and buttons – being recyclable.

In Australia, the statistics are just as bleak. Earlier this year, the Australian Fashion Council reported that, on average, Australians purchase 56 items of clothing per year. That’s more than one item of new clothing per person, per week. These alarming numbers mean Australia has now surpassed the US as the world’s biggest consumer of textiles per capita, with more than 200,000 tonnes of clothing ending up in landfill per year.

All of this is despite many Australians’ best efforts to dispose of unwanted clothing responsibly. As a nation, we donate around 310,000 tonnes of clothes to charities per year. However, an estimated one-third of these aren't suitable be sold on in op-shops. What happens next? These leftover garments are shipped to countries like Malaysia, Pakistan, and the Global South, where, more often than not, they end up in landfill.

Another compelling reason for Australian clothing manufacturers to take responsibility for textile recycling is the issue of oversupply. Earlier this year, the Guardian reported that as many as 40% of clothes made each year aren’t sold. This massive discrepancy not only compounds our overconsumption habits, but is in large part thanks to our increasing reliance on fast fashion retailers, many of whom import new products as frequently as every week.

How can we fix Australia's clothing waste crisis?

Clearly, curbing Australia's textile waste issue and evolving to a circular fashion economy will take effort from both sides. While it will like be years before we see a system like California's 'Responsible Textile Recovery Act' put in place in Australia, there are steps we can take to minimise our fashion footprint in the meantime.

Read our guide to donating your clothes ethically, or see our expert-approved tips to shopping sustainably.