Fashioning a way out of the textile waste wilderness

HKRITA's work also includes the creation of a hydrothermal separation and recycling system, otherwise known as "The Billie System" - a collaboration with local textile group Novetex that has resulted in industrial scale mechanical recycling - and a Garment to Garment (G2G, or mini-mill) retail system.

Then there is Sarah Garner, the founder of Retykle, an online platform selling second-hand children's clothes. In the film she is seen trying to change long-held local perceptions that these items might somehow bring bad luck.

Meanwhile, Eric Swinton, who once worked in the corporate gift industry, has started the social enterprise V Cycle, which seeks to turn single-use plastics - which most usually end up in Hong Kong's landfills - into a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric. The project has meant better pay for many of the city's elderly waste collectors.

Combined with reflections on the city's textile history, the stories of these sustainability crusaders help paint a picture of the ongoing cultural change that is slowly gathering pace in Hong Kong. There are now any number of sustainability initiatives emerging across the city.

Among them is the Hong Kong-based charity Redress' The R Collective. They collect scraps from global luxury brands and have these upcycled to make quality women's fashion. Twenty-five percent of the profits are channeled back into funding the charity's environmental activities.

The fashion brand Angus Tsui also upcycles textile waste for its high-end lines, while working to zero-waste and eco-printing policies, while the Love From Blue label uses deadstock cashmere and wool yarns in all its knitwear.