How Are Textiles Recycled?

Used textile recycling could keep millions of tons of textiles out of landfills each year.

There are many ways to recycle textiles, and most textiles are recyclable. Textile recycling is a growing worldwide business that assists many less fortunate people in various parts of the world and also provides raw materials for the manufacture of textile goods. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2.5 billion pounds of post-consumer textiles are recycled annually in the United States.

Donations

The easiest way to recycle textiles is through the donation of clothing to a local clothing drive or national clothing reseller, reports Eileen Yager of the University of Missouri Extension. Most cloth materials that these organizations cannot use are shipped to textile recyclers commonly called "rag sorters" in the recycling industry. These recyclers then sort textiles into categories.

Shipped Overseas for Developing Markets

Many textile recyclers ship used textiles in good shape overseas for sale or to developing countries for charitable use. This practice can provide developing markets with clothing, towels, bed sheets, rugs and many other goods these countries need or desire. Roughly 61 percent of clothing recovered for secondhand use is exported to foreign countries, states the EPA.

Cleaning Cloths

Many textiles not fit for resale or reuse are sorted and cut for use as rags. These rags are used for a variety of applications, and several textile recyclers even bundle the rags for sale. Consumers and industries purchase rags for wiping and polishing that are made from T-shirt materials, according to Yager. Many clothing textiles are destined for life as rags.

Shredded for Future Use

Textiles not fit for use even as rags are typically shredded and manufactured into new cloth goods. Raw materials created from textile recycling cost less than traditional raw materials to produce, and several industries use these textiles. Yager reports that the automotive industry uses recycled textiles for sound deadening materials, and paper industries use them for archival-quality paper.

Textiles in Landfills

According to Yager, 99 percent of textiles are recyclable. Unfortunately, a large portion of textiles still ends up in landfills. Four million tons of textiles--4.5 percent of municipal landfill waste--are sent to landfills every year. If all the recyclable textiles were removed from that mass, only 40,000 tons of textile waste would remain each year.

References

• United States Environmental Protection Agency: Textiles
• University of Missouri Extension: Don't Trash Old Clothes, Recycle