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Building a Scalable Fabric-to-Fabric Recycling System

  • kateyuille6
  • Oct 20
  • 3 min read

31 July 2025 - The Circular Textile Series explores the entire supply chain required for enzymatic recycling and textile recycling in general – from fabric to fabric. A truly viable large‑scale recycling process is only as strong as its weakest link, and each stage must be scalable and economically viable for the system to work.

The series begins with textile collection, a critical entry point that is not scalable in its current form. By examining each stage in sequence, we aim to highlight the challenges and opportunities that will shape the future of textile recycling.


Streamlining Textile Collection to enable Economically Viable Recycling

Executive Summary

Efficient sorting is critical to making textile recycling economically viable. Current collection systems, heavily reliant on charities, face severe challenges due to high sorting costs and the diversion of valuable garments by online platforms. This insight brief proposes a simplified two-stream collection model, empowering individuals and drastically reducing sorting costs [1] [2].


The Current Textile Sorting Conundrum

Textile collection and recycling is increasingly under strain in many countries. Charities, traditionally the main actors in textile reuse, are facing:


  • Rising pressure to collect more textiles due to environmental mandates.

  • Escalating sorting costs resulting from the necessity to identify reusable items. The cost of collecting and sorting worn-out textiles in the UK is now estimated at £88million per year. [1]

  • Diversion of valuable clothing to resale platforms, significantly reducing charities’ revenue streams. The rise of online resale not only channels high-value donations away from charities but also leaves them handling a greater share of low-quality, hard-to-sell stock. 


As a result, charities face an untenable situation: higher volumes of textiles, increasing sorting costs, diminished revenue, and ultimately, unsustainable operations. Many charities, notably in Germany, have ceased textile collection altogether - a trend now echoed in the UK, where sector losses and the collapse of the “rag trade” have been widely reported. [1]

Clearly, many people want to do the right thing and are trying to recycle their clothing; however, the current system is not effective.


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A Simplified Solution: Empowering Individuals

A streamlined collection model can significantly reduce sorting costs and enhance textile recycling viability, while supporting and empowering individuals to do their part in recycling.


This involves:

1. Two-Stream Collection Model:

  • Curbside Recycling - approx. 80% (?):  Textiles for recycling would be       collected at curbside. This bulk approach could lower feedstock prices to       as little as £90/tonne for baled, unsorted textiles—an optimistic yet       realistic figure given market ranges for 2025, which have touched       £0/tonne in distress but remain mostly within £0–90/tonne. [1]

  • Reusable Clothing Donations - approx. 20%(?): Citizens       would be encouraged and informed about donating only genuinely reusable       clothing. 


2. Educating Consumers:

Education and ongoing public engagement are critical to making the two-stream approach effective. Advanced Textile Sorting and Preprocessing (ATSP) facilities, trialed and evaluated in the UK (2023–2025), show that householders can successfully self-sort textiles by reuse potential [3] [4]. This helps minimize manual sorting and directs high-quality materials where they are most needed.


Anticipated Benefits

Adopting this simplified approach can deliver several key benefits:

  • Reduced Costs: Minimizes sorting expenses, significantly reducing the overall economic burden to society.

  • Enhanced Recycling Efficiency: Direct unsorted recycling stream supports stable, predictable feedstock supply at low cost.

  • Empowered Individuals: Greater consumer participation through education and direct involvement in the sorting process similar to the green bin collection.

  • Sustainability for Charities: Relieves charities from the financial pressures of high sorting costs, allowing them to focus on reused garment sales.


Conclusion

Implementing a simplified two-stream model addresses the critical challenge of sorting costs, enabling economically viable textile recycling. Empowering individuals and clarifying collection streams offer a sustainable, cost-effective solution essential for achieving large-scale textile circularity. 


All primary data points - sorting costs, collection losses, sector distress, price ranges for bulk unsorted feedstock, cost differentials in advanced recycling, and the effect of the online shift - are substantiated by recent government, industry, and academic research. The proposed model and targets are both feasible and evidence-based, offering a credible roadmap towards economically viable large-scale textile recycling in the UK and similar economies. [1] [2] [4] [5]


By Daniel Kaute


References

[1] WRAP warns of looming collapse in UK used textiles sector https://resource.co/article/wrap-warns-looming-collapse-uk-used-textiles-sector

[3] ACT UK - Transitioning to a UK Circular Textiles Ecosystem ... https://www.wrap.ngo/resources/report/act-uk-transitioning-uk-circular-textiles-ecosystem-report

[4] ACT UK - Innovations in Post-Consumer Textile Collections Report https://www.wrap.ngo/resources/report/act-uk-innovations-post-consumer-textile-collections-report

[5] Incineration of textiles 'could cost UK economy £200m' https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/incineration-of-textiles-could-cost-uk-economy-200m/

 
 
 

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