HOUSEHOLDS TEXTILE WASTE MANAGEMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN ROMANIA

The large amount of textile waste resulted annually both in the EU and Romania, the worrying growth of textile waste from households in many parts of the EU and the significant differences regarding the treatment of textile waste in Romania compared to the EU are the main reasons we proposed to carry out in this study. The aim of this paper was to find out what happens to the textile waste from Romanian households if the population is aware of the textiles' environmental impact and the appropriate recycling methods. For this reason, an online consumer survey was conducted from January 2020 to February 2020 and covered 282 respondents. The study's results showed that only a small part of the clothing products no longer used end up in the garbage, still, there is a danger that this quantity will increase in the future, as most citizens have no knowledge about the existence of recycling centres or these centres do not exist in the localities where they live. There is also the possibility that very few consumers would use these recycling centres. Even if a relatively high number of respondents are aware that textile products can be recycled, only a small part of them use this method. The study reconfirms the fact that Romanians still have to purchase second-hand clothes and shows which are the main forms of marketing preferred by them. It also shows that there is a potential growth of the market for products obtained from the recovery, recycling, and re-use of textiles.