Study on textile waste generation in the undifferentiated municipal solid waste stream in Guimarães, Portugal

Guimarães is a middle sized city and municipality located in northern Portugal. The municipality has committed to reducing the annual amount of undifferentiated municipal solid waste (MSW) from 371 kg/capita in 2021 to 120 kg/capita by 2030 under the Zero Waste Cities Certification process. In the municipality of Guimarães, one of the constant fractions of MSW composition is textile waste (TW), which the revised EU Waste Framework Directive requires separate collection by 1 January 2025. Therefore, two indicators of TW generation were analysed to identify waste collection routes with a high level of textile waste generation for the priority implementation of separate collection: TW composition in the undifferentiated MSW stream and TW generation per capita. Basic statistical analysis methods were used to process the source data of TW composition in the undifferentiated MSW stream. Cluster analysis was applied to the data set on TW generation per capita, considering the area typology (urban, rural or mixed) of collection routes. It was considered that 39% of the industrial sector of Guimarães consists of textile and clothing production and represents small- and medium-sized enterprises, which can affect TW generation in the undifferentiated MSW stream. Causal-comparative research was used to define the correlation between TW generation per capita and the economic activity of the textile and clothing industry in the municipality. As a result, applying a multi-disciplinary approach, a project of the Textile Waste Generation Map was presented.