This report is the primary outcome from Part I of the project “Towards a Nordic textile strategy - Collection, sorting, reuse and recycling of textiles” initiated by the Nordic Waste Group (NAG). The report for Part 2 will be published in December 2014. This report summarizes the work carried out in 2013. The three subreports will be the basis for the work to be performed in 2014. The reports for 2013 are: • International market survey of textile flows in the Nordic region and the market for collection, sorting, preparing for reuse, reselling and waste management of textiles. • Collection and sorting systems A total of 19 collection systems are compared for collection flows, contamination levels, cost, suitability of collected textile and availability for the consumer. Four sorting systems are described. • Technology review of sorting and recycling of textiles that describes available and future technology. The report is part of the Nordic Prime Ministers’ overall green growth initiative: “The Nordic Region – leading in green growth.” Read more in the web magazine “Green Growth the Nordic Way” at www.norden.org/greengrowth.

This report is the primary outcome from Part I of the project "Towards a Nordic textile strategy - Collection, sorting, reuse and recycling of textiles" initiated by the Nordic Waste Group (NAG). The report for Part 2 will be published in December 2014. This report summarizes the work carried out in 2013. The three subreports will be the basis for the work to be performed in 2014. The reports for 2013 are:• International market survey of textile flows in the Nordic region and the market for collection, sorting, preparing for reuse, reselling and waste management of textiles.• Collection and sorting systems A total of 19 collection systems are compared for collection flows, contamination levels, cost, suitability of collected textile and availability for the consumer. Four sorting systems are described.• Technology review of sorting and recycling of textiles that describes available and future technology. The report is part of the Nordic Prime Ministers' overall green growth initiative: "The Nordic Region - leading in green growth." Read more in the web magazine "Green Growth the Nordic Way" at www.norden.org/greengrowth.

The proposed strategy for increased reuse and recycling of textiles provides a starting point for the work towards a more sustainable textile and fashion sector in the Nordic region. It is focused on the increased collection, sorting, reuse and recycling in the region and thereby provides one part of the sustainability puzzle in the sector. The proposed strategy includes incentives, policy measures and measures needed on local, regional, national and Nordic levels to ensure successful implementation. The report is part of the Nordic Prime Ministers' overall green growth initiative: “The Nordic Region – leading in green growth” - read more in the web magazine “Green Growth the Nordic Way” at www.nordicway.org or at www.norden.org/greengrowth

Carbon footprints for several shopping bag alternatives (polyethylene, paper, cotton, biodegradable modified starch, and recycled polyethylene) were compared with life cycle assessment. Stochastic uncertainty analysis was used to study the sensitivity of the comparison to scenario and parameter uncertainty. On the basis of the results, we could give only a few robust conclusions without choosing a waste treatment scenario or limiting the parameter space. Given the scenario of current waste infrastructure in Finland, recycled polyethylene bags seem to be the most preferable (-7 to 24 g CO eq./bag) and biodegradable bags the least preferable (38 to 60 g CO eq./bag) option. In each analyzed waste treatment scenario, a few parameters dominated the uncertainty of results. Most of these parameters were downstream of the shopping bag manufacturing (consumer behavior, landfill conditions, method of waste combustion, etc.). The choice of waste treatment scenario had a greater effect on the ranking of bags than parameter uncertainty within scenarios. This result highlights the importance of including several scenarios in comparative life cycle assessments.

Abstract: Leaching tests as a method for determining the suitability of wastes for landfill disposal.

Sammandrag: Metallflöden i fast kommunalavfall.

Abstract: Classification of waste as hazardous waste.