Op-ed: How to Close the Loop on Textile Recycling

Ana Rodes
·4 min read

We all know fashion has a waste problem. In 2020, the EU and Switzerland alone generated 7 million tonnes of garment waste. Around 70 percent of it gets thrown away with general waste, ending up in landfill or an incinerator. The percentage turned into new clothing is less than 1 percent. On an overheating planet dogged by resource exploitation, this level of waste is catastrophic.

There is a way forward. By closing the loop on textile recycling, we can radically transform the entire fashion sector. As the linked crises of the climate and the natural world escalate, it must move from a linear ‘extract-produce-use-dump’ system to a circular one. Clothes should not only be made from new textiles, but from recycled ones produced from manufacturing fabric scraps, or used garments not suitable for second-hand.

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The recycling of textiles represents a huge opportunity. A recent report from Textile Exchange says that demand for ‘preferred materials’, such as recycled textiles, is due to rise to 163 million tons by 2030—but only 30 million tons will be available on the market, as things stand. Now we need to close that gap.

To scale textile recycling at the rate required, we must overcome all the barriers in the way. This starts with circumventing the technical challenges that prevent the mass production of different recycled fibers of the requisite high quality.

Historically, there have been difficulties around the production of certain applications, like fine knit apparel, and challenges with ensuring that recycled textiles are available in a wide array of colours, but without the use of polluting dyes. Innovations within the industry are helping to address some of these barriers, for example with Recover’s RColorBlend system, we can deliver recycled fibers that have already been color-matched, with the use of minimal water and chemicals, eliminating the need to overdye the cotton downstream.

Another challenge is to secure large volumes of suitable textile waste feedstock according to our needs (composition, color, exclusion of garments with wax coatings, lurex yarns and so on). Modern clothing contains a huge percentage of blended fibers, including a mix of natural and synthetic textiles, like cotton and polyester.

The concept of circularity must therefore be introduced into fashion design in a more mainstream way. Designers need to take a different approach, by considering the end of a garment’s life cycle from the outset. This will involve streamlining the number of materials used, cutting patterns to minimize waste, and reducing fastenings and accessories.

Circular textile systems will require full traceability and transparency regarding each company’s environmental and social impacts. This will be made possible through globally harmonized industry standards and collaborative ways of working—not just between textile manufacturers and fashion brands and retailers, but also between them and the recycling and waste sectors.

Then it’s a case of urgently growing the number of recycling facilities around the world. To reduce their carbon footprint, it’s best to locate them in proximity to apparel manufacturing hubs and places where most textile waste ends up. To date, we have built ours in Spain, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and our next facility to open will be in Vietnam.

Our new REICONICS denim collection demonstrates that fully circular, ultra sustainable textiles are already possible. Working in partnership with denim specialists Evlox and textile innovators Jeanologia, we created a capsule collection made from denim fabric that is GRS certified, the global recycled textile standard.

Previously, recycled cotton was deemed too low quality for durable denim. However, with Recover’s unique recycling process we can produce the longest possible fiber length, which makes the resulting material much stronger.

Recycled cotton fiber isn’t the only sustainable aspect of the range. Throughout the design process, materials were considered to emphasize recyclability, monomateriality, and streamlining of the finishing process and in its production, water usage and energy consumption are kept to a minimum. A single jacket saves up to 760 liters of water, compared with a jacket made with virgin cotton and treated with traditional finishing techniques. Now we need such practices to become widespread.

Disposable fashion has had its day. The apparel sector, like many others, must become circular by developing recycled fabrics that can be mass produced at scale. Using the creativity and ingenuity that is its hallmark, the fashion industry should pull together and develop and scale the technology to make this possible. Fabric scraps, and old clothes must not be viewed as waste—but as valuable resources that can be turned into exciting new designs. By closing the loop on textile recycling, we can solve fashion’s waste problem and help create a better future.

About the author:

Ana Rodes currently serves as the head of sustainability at Recover, a global materials science company and a leading sustainable brand in the textiles/apparel industry. Her role is to craft impactful solutions through the lens of ESG.

Her areas of specialization encompass decarbonization, environmental regulation, circular economy business models, R&D, recycled materials, and low-impact manufacturing.

Rodes is an industrial engineer with a PhD in textiles engineering, bringing seven years of specialized expertise in corporate sustainability within the textile sector.