How Textile Recycling Works — This Green Lifestyle

Before textiles are recycled, they have to get sorted. At this point, items that are deemed to be in good condition are often separate to be repurposed or resold. A majority gets exported as second-hand clothing, usually to countries in the Global South. Unfortunately, not all of those exported clothes end up getting a second life – investigators have found that many end up in landfills or open-air dumps.

The textiles that remain are recycled one of two ways: mechanically or chemically.

Mechanical recycling

In mechanical shredding, fabrics are shredded and turned into new fibers – usually with a lower tensile strength. This option works best for turning textiles into downcycled products, where the reduced fiber strength doesn’t matter.

Mechanical shredding is a less viable option for textile-to-textile recycling – unless the fabric is homogeneous. For example, textile recyclers in Prato, Italy have been recycling wool without a loss in quality. For other fabrics such as cotton, the recycled fibers usually have to be re-spun along with virgin ones in order to achieve the same tensile strength. While this does increase the overall sustainability of the resulting yarn, it means the product is not infinitely recyclable.

Chemical recycling

Today, most clothes are heterogeneous. They contain fabric blends that are impossible to separate by mechanical shredding, hence the majority of recycled clothes are simply downcycled.

This is where chemical recycling comes in. As the “new kid on the block,” so to speak, chemical recycling is where innovation, sustainability, and fashion meet. In chemical recycling, chemical processes can separate even blended fabrics and recycle the individual materials into new ones.

With polyester, for instance, the polymer is broken down then re-polymerized to create a new material with a virgin-like quality. This allows the material to be recycled multiple times without a loss in quality.

Limitations of textile recycling

The recycling industry relies heavily on individual buy-in for its success. The same is true for textiles: consumers and companies alike need to properly dispose of old clothes and other textiles if they want them to get recycled. The current textile recycling rate is less than 15%, compared to 68% for paper/cardboard and 25% for glass.

Though textile recycling is increasing, so is textile production, leading to more and more textiles ending up in the landfill or shipped overseas. This means that the biggest challenge with textile recycling is really textile overproduction. More than anything, companies need to be held accountable for the waste that they put out there.

Moreover, the industry is lagging in terms of making textile recycling easily accessible for consumers. It takes effort to set aside old clothes for recycling, let alone find a company willing to accept recyclable textiles straight from consumers. If it were easier to recycle textiles, more people would do it.

However, as always it’s important that we don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. While the textile industry is still a long way off from being completely circular, giving fibers a second life – even as insulation – is better than letting them rot in the landfill.

What are recycled textiles made into?

As you can see, there is still a lot of improvement to be had in the textile recycling industry. But demand is increasing, and innovators are working hard to keep up. And remember, even downcycling is important, as it reduces our reliance on virgin materials for low-grade products.

So what really happens to recycled fabrics? What do they get turned into? Although only about 1% actually gets turned back into clothes, there are many useful applications for recycled textiles:

  • Clothes

  • Cleaning rags

  • Mop heads

  • Stuffing for pillows and dog beds

  • Wadding for quilts and jackets

  • Padding for cushions, car seats, and couches

  • Insulation

  • Acoustic paneling

  • Rubber paneling

  • Carpet padding

Have any other questions about textile recycling? Let us know by leaving a comment below!