What Happens To Clothes Put In Recycling Bins? A Closer Look

Recycling has already been cemented in our brains. As sustainable fashion rose, we are also encouraged to do the same with our garments. Not all unwanted clothes can be donated. The last eco-friendly option is only recycling. Where are they going? What happens to clothes put in recycling bins?

We praise textile recycling as one of the most sustainable ways of dealing with textile waste. However, the complex reality of recycling textiles has some people questioning whether it's as great as it portrays. This article takes you through giving new life to used textiles. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Why it's important to recycle textiles

An estimated 92 million tons of textile waste annually enter the global waste stream. People wear clothes an average of seven times before throwing them away³. A large percentage of donated clothing ends up in landfills in other countries. Recycling reduces waste that goes to the landfill or incinerator. 

Sourcing raw materials for the textile industry has caused water shortages, land degradation, deforestation, and environmental pollution in many countries. Synthetic fibers like polyester consume 70 million barrels of nonrenewable fossil fuels. Recycled textiles use already used materials, reducing the pressure on natural resources.

The fashion industry is one of the main drivers of climate change. According to an analysis by textile innovation expert, Luz Walter, it is responsible for 2 to 3.5% of global GHG emissions. Textile recycling reduces the industry's footprint by eliminating the carbon-intensive material extraction.

Disposing of textile waste is another challenge. Natural fibers decompose, but can cause eutrophication and release methane in landfills. Synthetics don't decompose, but instead become microplastics that pollute aquatic environments. It even gets into the human body through food and water.

Concepts like the circular economy have emerged in pursuit of a sustainable future. The idea is to eliminate waste by turning it into raw materials. Textile recycling is an essential element in the concept of circularity; it turns even worn-out clothes that you can't donate into new garments.

The textile recycling process

Here, you'll find a generic walkthrough of the recycling process. The exact steps and materials will differ by material or manufacturer.

1. Gathering

Textile recycling starts with gathering used clothing and other textiles, such as shoes, towels, bedding, etc. Collection sources range from individual and community recycling bins to unsellable donated clothing from thrift stores, off-cuts from clothing companies, and used textiles from businesses.

Textile waste collected from individuals and businesses is called post-consumer, while that from apparel manufacturing is pre-consumer. Post-industrial textile waste refers to waste from textile manufacturing processes like yarns, defective fabrics, and trimmings.

In most places, you can't recycle clothes through curbside recycling bins–check with the local authority to be sure. If you put clothes in recycling bins where they're not accepted, you can be sure they'll end up in landfills.

In places without curbside recycling for clothes, you may find textile recycling bins at specific locations like supermarkets, community centers, and parking lots. You can also send your old textiles directly to a nearby recycling centre. 

Another way is to use doorstep multi-purpose recycling services like TerraCycle, Rabbit Recycling, EDCO Disposal, and Wastequip. Some fashion brands also run take-back programs that collect old apparel from customers for recycling.

2. Sorting

When textiles arrive at the recycling centre, workers begin sorting them. Sorting may be done by hand or by automated machines. First, they remove all the almost new, very usable items and give them to local charities or sell them.

Then they organize the remaining textiles into separate piles based on whether they are mainly natural or synthetic fibers. They further divide the piles into exact fiber types–wool, cotton, polyester, nylon, etc. Next comes sorting by color, which helps eliminate the need for re-dying.

The workers also remove materials like sequins, leather, tags, zippers, and buttons. They may do this step later in the recycling process after shredding. 

Watch Tora's Journey of a T-shirt on YouTube to better understand the sorting process.

3a. Mechanical recycling

This is most effective for recycling natural textiles like cotton, wool, and linen. Recycling companies use it for polyester and other synthetics, but it doesn't work well with blended fabrics.

To recycle textiles mechanically, they first shred the clothes into tiny pieces. The following steps are different for natural and synthetic fabrics.

Natural fibers are pulled apart, carded, and re-spun into fresh yarn for weaving or knitting fabrics. Mechanical recycling usually shortens and weakens the fibers, so manufacturers add small quantities of virgin fibers to enhance the quality. 

Recyclers melt the shredded synthetic fabrics into pellets, which they then remelt and extrude to form yarn. This process is called thermo-mechanical recycling. It differs from chemical recycling because it doesn't change the fibers' molecular structure.

Mechanical recycling is the most common recycling method. It doesn't consume much energy or chemicals but is labour-intensive and slow.

This video by Euro News provides a detailed walkthrough of the process.

3b. Chemical recycling

Chemical recycling is best for synthetic textiles. However, it can also be used for cotton and wool, especially those blended with polyester—it will process only one fiber. 

For polyester and other synthetics, recyclers use chemicals to break down fabrics into their component elements. Then, they chemically purify and recover the fibers for spinning new polyester fabrics. 

For natural-synthetic blends, recyclers use the physico-chemical recycling to separate the different fiber types. They can also chemically convert natural fabrics into artificial cellulosic fibres.

The chemicals and processes used for chemical recycling depend on the outcome that the manufacturers want. 

Chemical recycling is energy and chemically intensive, but it preserves the quality of the fiber. It produces high-performance clothes comparable to those made with virgin fibres.

4. Manufacturing final products

In closed-loop recycling, they make recycled textiles into new clothing, shoes, and bags. Surprisingly, this happens only 1% of the time. 

The majority of recycled clothes are downcycled in the open-loop system. They become industrial rags, packaging, carpet padding, blankets, and curtains. Recycled textiles are also used to stuff car seats, construct insulation, and install soundproof panels. 

Unfortunately, downcycling reduces the quality of fibers, making them unfit for future recycling. The advantage of textile to textile manufacturing is that the fibers can be recycled multiple times. 

Problems of textile recycling

Textile recycling has undeniable economic advantages and is essential for sustainability. Furthermore, its technology has improved over the years. Recently, researchers from the University of Minnesota Duluth created a machine to turn old clothes into usable fiber in about 90 seconds.

However, it is quite perplexing that only 12% of global textile waste is recycled⁴, even though almost all textiles are recyclable. America recycles just 14.7% of its textiles. Textile recycling is fraught with challenges, which we briefly discuss below.

Collection difficulties

You're lucky if you can use curbside recycling for your old garments. People who simply have to locate special recycling bins in their neighborhood have it easy, too. 

Many people don't have easy access to textile recycling collection services. They must pay considerable costs to get the textiles they use to recycling centres.

Collecting textile waste from individuals and businesses might still be difficult in places with community recycling services. Some people take the easy way out and send their old clothes directly to the landfill. The average collection rate in Europe is just 12%.

Technological limitations

Although recycling technology has significantly advanced, processing textile items made with different materials is still challenging. Each type of material requires a different processing method. 

However, natural–synthetic fibre blends, especially cotton and polyester, are becoming increasingly common. In 2024, Textile Exchange's Materials Market Report stated that polyester continued to claim the top spot as the most produced fiber, with 57% of total fabrication worldwide⁵.

Some recycling methods can process multi-material textiles, but only to an extent. In many cases, one of the fibers becomes unusable. For example, Renewcell's innovative textile-to-textile recycling could only process cotton with a 5% blend of other materials. 

Poor quality recycling input

Many fast-fashion companies create poor-quality garments that wear out quickly. That means people have no choice but to replace their clothing frequently, and millions of tons of clothing produced yearly end up in landfills within 12 months.

Besides compounding the waste problem, such underhanded tactics result in weak fibers that are not recyclable. The recycling process is tough on fiber, so the recycling input needs to be strong enough to endure it.

Unfortunately, many fast-fashion garments don't meet the quality standard for recyclability. When processed, they produce fibers that are too short and too brittle to be rewoven.

Waste production outpacing recycling capacity

At the present rates, textile recycling simply isn't able to keep up with waste generation. In 2018, UNEP wrote that the amount of time consumers wear clothing has declined by 36%.

The fast fashion industry is complicit in the throwaway culture, which sees consumers discard perfectly wearable clothes. It cuts corners on materials and labor to produce cheap clothes at lightning speed, releasing up to 52 collections annually.

The recycling industry is making progress at a much slower rate. Recycling fabric blends is still a massive challenge with current technology. Recycling facilities are still scarce, and the few available ones are struggling with infrastructure and profitability.

Falling short of circularity

Only 1% of recycled clothes become new garments¹. The rest are downcycled into products that some sustainability experts consider less valuable. Furthermore, a large percentage of recycled polyester textiles come from plastic bottles, not discarded clothing. That is open-loop recycling.

To some people, the open-loop recycling system is not a true reflection of circular fashion. They believe that the fashion industry will only consume fewer resources when clothes are recycled back into clothes, after all, people buy more clothes than recycled carpets or blankets.

There's also the issue of using virgin fibers to reinforce recycled textiles. True circularity wants to eliminate the need for new raw materials, not just reduce it. The reality is that fibers are not infinitely recyclable. Cotton can only go through a couple of recycles before it has to go to the landfill.

Moreover, including virgin materials gives companies room to greenwash their recycling. T-shirts with less than 20% recycled fiber can be labeled as recycled with exaggerated sustainability claims.

Lack of investor attention

The economic system makes it far more profitable to use virgin materials for textiles than recycled materials. It costs a lot to set up and run a recycling business. However, the demand for recycled products isn't as high, perhaps due to the relative expense.

The recycling industry needs more investments to compete with the linear manufacturing and consumption system. Investors can support recycling companies with start-up capital. They can also invest in bringing up innovative, eco-friendly recycling technologies to a commercial scale.

The rising demand for sustainable fashion and stronger environmental regulations can drive the demand for recycled textiles. More demand means more profit for investors, which would attract new investors.

How sustainable is textile recycling?

Textile recycling is unarguably the best way to manage existing textile waste. However, it is not carbon-negative—it consumes energy, chemicals, water, fiber, dyes, and other resources. Waste can also come from the recycling process. Nevertheless, recycling is still more manageable for the environment than linear consumption.

Transporting used clothing and powering recycling facilities uses energy, leaving a carbon footprint. However, recycled materials can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% compared to virgin materials based on the Higg Material Sustainability Index (MSI). The figure goes lower if the recycling centre runs mainly on renewable energy. 

Recycling textiles consumes less water than linear manufacturing because it doesn't start fiber extraction from scratch. Even though current methods still require some virgin fiber input, recycling consumes fewer resources. 

Textile recycling uses chemicals, some of which are harmful to the environment. However, researchers are constantly working on introducing more eco-friendly chemicals and processes. For example, biochemical recycling uses enzymes to produce biodegradable viscose. New textiles typically undergo bleaching and dying, while mechanical recycling methods usually don't involve those steps.

Reuse vs recycle

Which is better, recycling or reusing textiles? Both options are good and can happen to a piece of clothing at different points in its life cycle. However, consumers should prioritize reuse over recycling. 

Reusing prolongs the life of an item with little or no processing. It is also much cheaper, environmentally and otherwise. Reusing lowers the environmental impact up to 70 times and saves 3 kg of CO2². 

All you need is a pair of scissors and sewing tools to make cleaning cloths, rags, and accessories out of old garments. The same idea applies when fashion and textile businesses use deadstock fabrics instead of recycled ones. In contrast, recycling will consume energy, water, chemicals, and other resources.

Besides, recycled clothes are not cheaper than those made from virgin materials; sustainable products tend to cost more. It is easier for most people to participate in a circular fashion by wearing donated clothes than buying from sustainable fashion brands.

If you have to decide whether to donate or recycle your clothes, check quickly: Are the clothes in wearable condition? People donate used clothing to charity shops when it is in good condition. Donated clothes may have some faults, but they should be repairable.

If your clothes meet donation standards, send them directly to charity shops or sell them for profit through online thrift stores. If you put clothes you should donate in the recycling bin, the sorting process will remove them. The clothes will still be donated, but now, transporting them to the thrift shop will have an avoidable carbon footprint.

Conclusion

Textile recycling reduces waste sent to landfills and incinerators. It also lowers the environmental impact of textile manufacturing and conserves resources. However, recycling textiles is challenging. Recyclers must deal with technological limitations, profitability issues, scaling issues, etc. 

You can help drive the industry forward by buying from brands that use recycled materials. You can also send your old textiles (that you can't donate) to the recyclers rather than the landfill. For a complete guide, check our 7Rs of sustainable fashion.