Between fashion and waste
January 15, 2025, 4.30 p.m. Fashion & Technology, Tabakfabrik Linz Building 1, Staircase A
Talk by Karoline Mätzler at Fashion & Technology.
Today's fashion - tomorrow's waste?
Facts, figures and data: Volume and composition of municipal waste in a European comparison, circular material use rate, tons of CO2 eq. per year.
Environment analysis at political level: Green Deal, EU Circular Economy Action Plan, EU Textile Strategy incl. key measures and AT level, re-strategies for implementing the circular economy.
Carla Vorarlberg in context: figures, data, facts (circular economy, labor market policy, economic efficiency)
Outlook and discussion: challenges in social textile collection, starting points and (cooperation) potential of design in the reuse sector at carla.
Karoline Mätzler has been Head of the Work & Qualification Department at Caritas Vorarlberg since 2009 and in this role is responsible for managing the carla social enterprises. The carla companies operate as a social business at the interface between the social goal of employing people who are disadvantaged in the labor market and the re-use of textiles, electrical appliances, furniture or household items as a business purpose. Caritas Vorarlberg is the exclusive partner of local authorities in the state of Vorarlberg for the collection of used clothing and, with carla Tex in Hohenems, has been running Austria's only fully sorted clothing sorting plant for around 27 years.
Re-use has recently evolved from a niche as an employment opportunity for socially disadvantaged groups to an increasingly dynamic business model within the circular economy, for example in terms of public perception, research interest, economic and legal aspects. This applies in particular to the textiles sector. The ongoing organizational and economic adaptation of the carla companies on the market is corresponding.
