The Textile Recycling Process: A Sustainable Solution for the Fashion Industry
As of 2024, the fashion industry has been estimated to produce over 92 million tonnes of textile waste each year, leading to incalculable environmental harm. Discarded fabrics, old clothes, post-consumer and pre-consumer textiles are dumped into landfills and bodies of water, contributing to high levels of environmental pollution and disrupting sensitive ecosystems. In countries like Ghana and Chile, piles of textile waste have become so large they have been dubbed “textile mountains”— with several of them even able to be seen from space.
This waste not only includes leftover textiles— it also encompasses chemical waste and packaging materials. The impact of these contaminants have reverberating consequences for people, plants and animals— often over generations.
Fashion’s Environmental Impact: The True Cost of “Trendy”
Fast fashion is undoubtedly one of the biggest culprits, with fashion brands like H&M, Forever 21, Zara and Shein producing some of the largest amounts of textile waste worldwide. These fashion brands churn out new clothing quickly to meet consumer demand, resulting in inexpensive, non-durable clothing that consumers throw away after just a few wears. And yet, it’s not only the production of these “disposable” clothes that creates pollution: air pollution is also exacerbated greatly by the transportation of tons of these new products by plane to destinations around the world.
The textile industry is another guilty party significantly contributing to textile waste and pollution, through numerous stages in the textile production, consumption and disposal processes. Dyeing, washing and finishing processes contribute to an enormous use of water, and the subsequent release of wastewater containing harmful byproducts, including chemicals, dyes, microplastics and microfibers into bodies of water. Meanwhile, carbon emissions from these production sites are estimated to account for over 10% of global carbon emissions and greenhouse gas emissions, leading to increased air pollution.
The Solution: Looking Beyond Sustainable Production
As the fashion industry grapples with its environmental impact, many in the space are committing to more sustainable and eco-friendly methods of production to reduce environmental impact. These include using organic and natural fibers like organic cotton and hemp, implementing water-efficient processes such as waterless dyeing techniques, and embracing innovative technologies like 3D printing and digital fabric printing to minimize waste and energy consumption. Additionally, brands are focusing on supply chain transparency and ethical labor practices to create a more sustainable and responsible fashion ecosystem.
Yet sustainability in production isn’t the only (or arguably best) solution. The answer lies in avoiding the production of new textiles and new products, instead turning to the reuse of existing products and textiles.
Textile Recycling: A New Model For Sustainability In Fashion
The Birth Of The Circular Economy
A radically different approach is gaining traction: the circular economy. This model redefines how clothing moves through our world, challenging the traditional "take-make-dispose" system that has dominated for decades. Unlike the current linear model where clothes are produced, used briefly, and discarded, a circular economy keeps materials in constant circulation, maximizing their value and minimizing waste.
The concept of a circular economy offers a promising path forward for the fashion industry. Unlike the traditional linear model, a circular approach focuses on extending the life cycle of clothing and textiles through reuse, repair, upcycling and recycling. This means designing high quality clothes for longevity, implementing take-back systems, developing fiber-to-fiber recycling technologies, and creating new business models based on clothing rental and resale. Used clothing shops are on the rise with vintage and thrift shopping becoming the new “cool”, and secondhand garments losing their taboo status in the fashion world. The secondhand clothing market is projected to double in size by 2025, reaching $77 billion globally. Resale platforms like The RealReal, Poshmark and Depop have become wildly popular among consumers— particularly millennials and Gen Z— while companies like Patagonia and Eileen Fisher have already pioneered successful repair and resale programs. In the meantime, advancements in recycling technology have been made, with innovative startups developing technologies to break down mixed fibers for textile recycling.
What is Textile Recycling?
As its name suggests, textile recycling is the process of converting clothing, used textiles, fabrics, and fiber waste into new raw materials and products. This includes extracting fibers, yarn, and fabric from both post-consumer textile products (like fabric or used clothing) to return the textile materials to a state where they can be reused in manufacturing - either as loose fibers that can be respun into new yarn, as reusable yarn itself, or as chemical building blocks that can be reformed into new fibers for fabrics. While the process is promising, the reality is that not all types of fabric can be easily recycled. The success and method of recovery depends heavily on the original textile's composition and condition, and most fabrics with different materials are difficult to recycle due to their blend of fibers, which are challenging to separate, chemical treatments that make them unsuitable for recycling, or the technological limitations of recycling companies.
Benefits Of Textile Recycling
Because Textile Recycling adds value at multiple points in the supply chain, it has benefits beyond just waste reduction. The process creates new jobs in collection, sorting, and processing facilities– particularly in developing nations– while also reducing the demand for virgin materials and the costs of raw material extraction. From an economic perspective, recycling textiles can be significantly more cost-effective than producing new fibers, particularly as technology improves and economies of scale are achieved. The practice also preserves valuable landfill space and reduces the need for harmful pesticides and fertilizers used in growing natural fibers like cotton. Perhaps most promising is the potential for textile recycling to allow for greater access to quality materials through lower cost of production - as recycled fibers become more prevalent and affordable, traditionally expensive sustainable fashion could become more accessible to greater numbers of people.
Unraveling the Textile Recycling Process
Sorting and Collection
Textile recycling begins with collection through various channels: post-consumer textile waste and materials come from donation bins, clothing drives, company programs, and mail-in services, while pre-consumer textiles comes directly from factories in the form of scraps, yarn waste, and faulty materials. Once collected, all textiles undergo a detailed sorting process where they are graded based on type, quality, and condition to determine whether they can be resold or must be recycled into new materials.
Mechanical Recycling
There are two main methods for recycling textiles: mechanical recycling and chemical recycling. Mechanical recycling is the simpler of the two methods, using physical force to transform old textiles into new materials. The process begins with removing non-textile items like buttons and zippers, then cutting the fabric into smaller pieces. These pieces are then shredded into fine fragments and run through a carding process that disentangles the fibers. Carding is a crucial step where the shredded fibers pass through a series of rotating cylinders covered in tiny teeth or wire brushes – similar to a very fine metal comb. These teeth separate, align, and clean the fibers, transforming them from a tangled mass into neat, parallel strands that can then be spun into new yarn. While mechanical recycling is cost-effective and widely accessible, especially for natural fibers like 100% cotton, it does have limitations. The process typically produces lower-quality fibers that need to be blended with new materials to achieve suitable durability for clothing.
Chemical Recycling
Chemical recycling takes a more sophisticated approach by breaking down textiles at the molecular level. This method uses chemical liquids to dissolve or depolymerize textile materials into their basic components, such as monomers or cellulose, which can then be rebuilt into new fibers that closely match the quality of virgin materials. Chemical recycling is particularly effective for synthetic fabrics and blended materials, allowing for processes like viscose recycling (where cellulose is dissolved and reformed into new fibers) and polyester depolymerization (where fibers are completely broken down and reconstructed). However, chemical recycling comes with its own challenges – it requires advanced technology, substantial infrastructure, and energy-intensive procedures. There's also an environmental risk if the process isn't properly managed, as it can release toxic chemicals during the processing of fabrics.
Digital Innovation: Pattern Clouds and Virtual Design
The rise of digital technology has revolutionized how textile and fashion designers operate, offering new pathways to sustainability through innovative companies like The Pattern Cloud - an online platform where designers can sell their patterns and designs digitally. These marketplaces eliminate the need for extensive travel to trade shows and client meetings, as designers can now sell their patterns globally without leaving their studios. A fundamental shift is also occurring in how designs are shared: many studios and independent creators now opt to provide digital pattern files rather than printed fabric samples. This digital-first approach eliminates the waste associated with physical sampling, reduces water usage and chemical pollution from sample printing, and decreases the need for packaging and shipping materials. Clients can preview designs through high-quality digital renderings and virtual fabric simulations, making informed decisions without requiring physical samples. This transformation not only supports environmental sustainability but also allows designers to operate more efficiently while maintaining smaller physical footprints.
Weaving a Better Tomorrow
Textile recycling has a way to go before it becomes sustainably integrated into conventional fashion industry practices. Despite the current challenges, however, there's tremendous cause for optimism. The convergence of technological innovation, shifting consumer preferences, and industry commitment to sustainability is creating unprecedented opportunities for positive change. As chemical recycling techniques become more refined, sorting technologies more sophisticated, and circular business models more mainstream, we're approaching a tipping point where sustainable fashion isn't just an alternative – it's the new standard. The fashion revolution is already underway, and it's wearing recycled clothes.
