Program on the Environment

Cotton textile waste continues to increase each year, filling landfills despite programs for individuals to recycle textiles. No such program exists for commercial operations; particularly hotels which produce vast amounts of textile waste every week. This study seeks to answer the question: what barriers prevent hotels from participating in a cotton textile recycling supply chain? Alongside answering this research question I interned with the WSU Textile Team, wherein I researched textile recycling programs around the world and created a potential business plan on textile recycling for the Team. To answer the research question, I conducted semi-structured interviews with hoteliers in the Seattle-Bellevue area. The questions were divided into four subjects: economics, logistics, liability and perception. I interviewed eight individuals representing six different hotels, four major hotel brands, and one ownership company. The overwhelming opinion was that participating in a textile recycling program was not only an exciting prospect for environmental reasons but had the potential to benefit hotels themselves through sales opportunities. Only two topics fostered hesitation: whether the hotel was to pay any fee for participating and inconvenient collection time. The conclusion of this study is that the only barrier to hotel participation in a cotton textile recycling supply chain was the lack of a free, third-party service to facilitate such an initiative. Due to the overwhelming opinion of interviewees these results should apply to regions outside Washington and if government subsidies allow a service to operate it could reduce tons of textile waste from entering landfills each year.