UHI North, West and Hebrides are exploring solutions to a growing textile waste crisis in the Western Isles
UHI North, West and Hebrides are exploring solutions to a growing textile waste crisis in the Western Isles
In response to mounting concern, Rebecca Smith, Sustainability Lecturer at UHI North, West and Hebrides, convened regional partners to press for urgent, scalable solutions to prevent a growing textile waste crisis. At the end of 2025, a meeting was held at the UHI North, West and Hebrides Stornoway campus to explore these issues and establish shared concern about rising volumes of unwanted clothing on the islands.
Attendees included representatives from the Municipal Services; Zero Waste Western Isles; and Charity and Voluntary sector groups from all over the Western Isles including Cothrom, the Uists Council of Voluntary Organisations, and Bethesda Hospice.
Other interested organisations engaged with the discussions, including Highlands and Island Enterprise; Community Energy Scotland; the Island Centre for Net Zero; Carbon Neutral Islands and Climate Hebrides.
The urgent need to identify additional solutions that can support the voluntary sector to deal resourcefully with the huge volume of unwanted clothes accumulating throughout the Outer Hebrides was the key takeaway from the discussions.
There is concern that unwanted clothes may increasingly end up in residual waste streams and landfill, contributing to tonnages that will eventually show up through landfill taxes. Sustainability Lecturer at UHI North, West and Hebrides, Rebecca Smith said:
“Local waste management services are increasingly concerned by the volume of textiles that now fall outside viable recycling pathways, placing additional pressure on local disposal routes.
"Additionally, the third sector is becoming increasingly responsible for managing a huge volume of clothing waste, but not always with the necessary support in place to find scaled-up solutions that can effectively deal with the volumes involved. It is clear more funding and direction is needed to support efforts across island groups, towards a regional approach that provides a reliable and permanent solution that can match the scale of the huge volumes of clothing involved.
"It is important that we monitor the situation closely as we don’t want huge volumes of unwanted clothes just piling up on our islands with nowhere to go. We’re continuing to explore the issues here at the college campus, using sectoral funding from UHI’s Knowledge Exchange Land and Communities Fund to assess the potential of localised educational and enterprise-orientated solutions that can support the voluntary sector and potentially create some local employment.”
To find out more about our Sustainability courses at UHI North, West and Hebrides, please visit: Sustainability - UHI North, West and Hebrides