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Have you ever wondered what happens to your clothes when you’re done with them? Only 15 per cent of the 92 million tonnes of textile waste produced globally each year gets recycled or repurposed, and often those processes use harmful chemicals. The remaining 78 million tonnes get piled high in overflowing landfills. Thankfully, º£½ÇÉçÇø efforts are focused on reorganizing those waste streams.

Synthetic Spider Silk

“Fast fashion causes people to buy more low-quality clothing, so more clothing ends up getting thrown out,” explains Youssef Mohamed, a third-year student taking a double major in biological sciences and psychology in the Faculty of Science.

Mohamed is part of an interdisciplinary team of undergraduate students who are using genetically modified E. coli bacteria to break down waste fabric like wool and mixed textiles into amino acids and sugars, which are then used as feedstock to make spider silk.

“Most fast fashion is produced with multiple materials blended together, which makes it difficult to break them down or recycle them,” says Mohamed. He and the team brainstormed and realized that a harmless type of E. coli — used in many bioengineering projects — might help.

They invented a two-step system by adding genetic structures known as “plasmids” to the bacteria. Plasmids are small DNA molecules typically found in bacteria that can replicate independently, instruct metabolic enzymes to break down unusual substances and be manipulated in a lab.

In the first step, the bacteria receive and replicate instructions from the team’s modified plasmids to degrade clothing made from materials such as keratin and cellulose. In the second step, a different set of bacteria gets alternate plasmid instructions to produce synthetic spider silk — which is highly valued in biomedicine, airplane manufacturing and textiles due to its strength, durability and flame resistance.

The team won gold among 400 other teams from around the world at the iGEM Grand Jamboree in Paris, France in October 2024.

“Hopefully, with further experiments and studying, we can degrade all sorts of waste products,” says Mohamed.

Regenerated Fibres

There’s no denying the cyclical nature of fashion — and thanks to the work of three researchers from the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences, the same can be said about the fibres that make up the clothes a la mode.

, , ’96 BSc (Hons), ’01 PhD, and , ’80 BSc(HEc), are working with Davey Textile Solutions, TechFibre Industries and Mark’s Work Wearhouse on an initiative called Regenerated Cellulosic Fibre From Hemp and Post-Consumer Textiles. It aims to establish a made-in-Canada supply of regenerated cellulose fibres using Canadian sources of cellulose, such as farming residues (like leftover crop stalks, leaves or husks post-harvest), hemp and recycled textiles.

Their fibre production calls on the lyocell process, which uses less water and employs a low-toxicity solvent that is more than 99 per cent recoverable. The lyocell fibres will find applications in a wide range of products, including personal protective equipment, workwear, dental floss and health-care products.

“The lyocell process will help reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry in Canada,” says Dolez.

The Repair Café

Knowing how to sew is necessary to mend and alter clothing, which is becoming a lost art. , professor in the Department of Human Ecology, decided to address this by starting the . It is a regular event where people gather to mend clothes so they can get more use out of them.

“Wearing your clothes for longer is the best way to reduce fashion’s carbon footprint,” says McQueen. “If people don’t know how to mend clothes or lack the tools to do so, such as a sewing machine, there’s a greater chance that they’ll throw away their worn clothing and buy new.”

Thus far, the café has held 16 sessions on campus, with more than 500 people attending and mending about 350 items. The café has also been featured in six off-campus events since 2023.

“We are gratified to engage in the wider community beyond the campus,” McQueen says. “When I think about sustainability, the first thing that comes to mind is responsible consumption. I’d like to think these cafés are helping.”