Textile waste is an urgent global problem, with only 12% recycled worldwide, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a fashion sustainability nonprofit. Nowhere is the problem greater than in China, the world's largest textile producer and consumer, where more than 26 million tons of clothes are thrown away each year, according to government statistics. Most of it ends up in landfills. The country's clothing industry is dominated by "fast fashion" — cheap clothes made from unrecyclable synthetics. And Chinese e-commerce brands Shein and Temu make the country one of the world's largest producers of cheap fashion, selling in more than 150 countries. Currently, only about 20% of China's textiles are recycled, according to the Chinese government. And many Chinese consumers are unwilling to buy used items anyway. Still, among younger Chinese, there is a growing awareness of sustainability and some "remade" clothing businesses have emerged. Designer Zhang Na's fashion label, Reclothing Bank, sells clothes, bags and other accessories made from materials such as plastic bottles, fishing nets and flour sacks. The items' labels have QR codes that show their composition, how they were made and the source of the materials. Reclothing Bank began in 2010 to give "new life to old things," Zhang said of her store in Shanghai. A large used clothes deposit box sits outside the entrance. Zhang said she has seen sustainability consciousness grow since she opened her store, with core customers in their 20s and 30s. But recycled garments sold at stores like Reclothing Bank cost much more than fast-fashion brands due to their production methods. And that's the real problem, said Sheng Lu, professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware. "Studies repeatedly show consumers are not willing to pay higher for clothing made from recycled materials" he said.