Fanning the flames of textile incineration. A good or a bad thing?
Textile sustainability strategist Shivam Gusain argues that the recycling sector has made incineration into a type of all-purpose villain, where the real barriers to recycling are much more practical. Our latest episode fans the flames around textile and clothing incineration and asks whether the textile recycling sector is too quick to blame incineration as the 'bad guy' when the bigger challenge is to build practical recycling capacity amid current waste management and climate pressures. Speaking to host Philip Berman, Gusain says the industry conversation is too focused on incineration as "the big hammering point" and on the idea that it is holding recycling back. The podcast also tackles the idea that incineration is always the worst option on health grounds, saying there is often confusion between controlled incineration and open burning of waste. This episode is brought to you by our partner PICVISA a Spanish machine-vision company that builds AI‑driven optical sorting systems for waste, including dedicated solutions for textile sorting and recycling. If you want to read Shivam's original article