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What in the World
Is circular fashion the answer to clothes waste?
What in the World
Jan 17, 2024

It’s estimated that a garbage truck full of clothing is being sent to a landfill every second, with less than 1% recycled into new clothes. One way to stop clothes reaching landfill is reusing, repairing and recycling them. This is part of ‘circular fashion’ - where textiles already in circulation are used again and again, instead of producing new ones.

Lots of fashion brands and consumers are trying to make the fashion industry more sustainable. We hear from two projects at the forefront of this. Whitney Speke joins us from Nairobi to tell us how Africa Collect Textiles is tackling clothes waste in Africa. She also shares her views on the 30 wear challenge - which encourages consumers to wear their clothes at least 30 times.

We’re joined by Taylor Greene who works for Circ, a US-based company. Circ’s innovative recycling technology is addressing the fashion industry’s carbon footprint – which accounts for around 8% of global carbon emissions.

Plus, sustainability journalist Sophie Benson explains how apps have helped make sustainable fashion more accessible, and how it might be scaled up in the future.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Mora Morrison and Benita Barden Editors: Julia Ross-Roy and Simon Peeks

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USAID: Can the world live without it?

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is under fire. It is the world’s biggest donor and spends billions of dollars a year, funding programmes around the world, like fighting malaria in Bangladesh, clearing unexploded landmines in Cambodia and Laos and providing medical supplies in Sudan.

But President Trump says it is run by “radical lunatics” and he and billionaire Elon Musk, who’s got the job of trying to slash American government spending, want to shut it down. They have paused almost all international spending for 90 days and issued “stop work” orders to their staff. BBC journalist Nathalia Jimenez tells us what USAID does - and why the Trump administration wants to close it.

A large proportion of USAID funding goes towards healthcare and HIV medication in sub-Saharan Africa. Makuochi Okafor, the BBC’s Africa Health correspondent tells us what impact closing USAID could have in this region.

Anselm Gibbs, a BBC reporter based in Trinidad and Tobago, tells us about programmes USAID funds in the Caribbean. And Hilde Deman from Search for Common Ground, an international NGO that uses USAID funding in countries affected by violent conflict, talks about the impact to their work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Benita Barden and Julia Ross-Roy Editor: Rosanna La Falce


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Is circular fashion the answer to clothes waste?

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