What are recycled fibers?
ISO 14021 defines recycled materials as reprocessed from reclaimed materials by means of a manufacturing process and then made into a final product or component for incorporation into a product. Commonly recycled fibers include polyester, nylon, cotton, wool and down.
The textile industry is currently lagging behind other industries when it comes to recycling. Globally, just 12% of textiles are recycled. This compares to paper, glass and plastic PET bottle recycling rates in the US of 66%, 27% and 29%. Indeed, most rPET used in clothing comes from bottles and not old clothing.1
Part of the problem is that garments are made from multiple materials, which makes them difficult to recycle. For example, a t-shirt that is labeled 100% cotton will still have other components, such as labels and sewing threads, which may be made from polyester. Cotton jeans often contain elastane alongside other non-cotton components (zips, dyes, buttons, labels, etc.). It is this combination of materials that makes recycling difficult.2
Material to material recycling is slow, labor intensive and requires skilled workers. In 2020, it was estimated that the US recycled 13% of footwear and the EU recycled 50% of textiles in this way. Globally, the figure is significantly less.3 There is hope however, and these figures are improving. Across the world the industry is increasingly using recycled materials, but we are still a long way from achieving the target of zero landfill.
Garbage should no longer be seen as waste. It is a resource that we should be exploiting, and that includes the fibers used in textiles and clothing. The problem isn’t necessarily the amount of discarded clothes, it is what happens to them. To quote the US futurist Alex Steffen, “There is no such thing as garbage, just useful stuff in the wrong place.”