In the textile recycling sector, there is a widespread belief that feedstock is abundant—after all, there is so much textile waste that it can be recycled endlessly. Indeed, the global volume of clothing and fabric waste is staggering: every year, around 92 million tons of textiles end up in landfills worldwide—equivalent to a truckload of used clothing dumped every second. However, volume does not equal quality. A large amount of waste does not mean that all textiles are suitable for recycling. On the contrary, today only about 1% of used clothing is recycled back into new garments.In other words, the lion’s share of the textile “feedstock” stream is inaccessible for reuse. The problem is not a shortage of waste but rather that most of it fails to meet the quality standards required for effective recycling.
