What types of clothes are recyclable?
More than 17 million tons of textile waste are produced annually in the US, but only about 15% is recycled. As a primary component of textile waste, clothing takes up significant landfill space and releases methane during decomposition. The fashion industry is a leading water consumer and water polluter.
To combat waste and promote a circular economy, clothes should be recycled. Most types of clothing can be recycled, including:
- Natural fibers: cotton, wool, linen, hemp, silk.
- Synthetic fibers: polyester, nylon, acrylic.
- Cellulose-based fibers: viscose/rayon.
- Blended fabrics: cotton/polyester blends.
Clothes recycling reduces water and energy demands, frees up valuable landfill space, reduces water and soil pollution, and reduces carbon emissions. We’ll discuss clothes recycling: how recycling works for different clothing types, the clothes recycling market, and the baling wire you’ll need to recycle clothes safely and efficiently.
Natural fibers
Natural fibers are mechanically recycled. The process involves shredding fibers and respinning them into new yarn. Natural fibers are shorter and have less tensile strength, so they are usually respun with virgin fibers.
- Recycled cotton can comprise up to 30% of a yarn blend while still producing a medium-count yarn suitable for most applications.
- Wool can undergo recycling multiple times without fiber degradation.
- Silk is cut and resewn without shredding when possible. Its fine fibers lose tensile strength during mechanical shredding and must be spun with virgin fibers to be used.
- Linen and hemp follow similar processes to cotton.
Synthetic fibers
There are several ways to recycle synthetic fibers. Beyond mechanical shredding, synthetics can undergo:
- Thermo-mechanical recycling: Thermoplastic fabrics, such as polyester (PET) and nylon can be melted and extruded, resulting in plastic pellets that can become many types of product.
- Chemical textile recycling: Recyclers use solvents to separate and isolate materials. This process can handle mixed materials, so it can receive unsorted clothes and process fabric blends. The final product is a plastic polymer that is similar in quality to virgin materials.
No matter the technique, the chemicals and processes employed in synthetic fiber recycling are less consumptive and polluting than virgin clothes production. Synthetic fibers, once isolated and clean, are recyclable multiple times without quality loss.
Cellulose-based fibers
Cellulose-based fibers have the recyclability of natural fibers. Mechanical recycling produces lower-quality fibers that are mixed with virgin fibers to reach market requirements.
New chemical processing techniques foreshadow a closed-loop supply chain and a circular economy approach. Chemical textile recycling methods have demonstrated that cellulose-based fibers can be recycled nearly infinitely, decreasing resource and energy requirements compared to virgin fiber production.
The clothes recycling process
From end-of-life to re-manufacturing, this is the basic process of recycling old clothes:
- Collection: Post-consumer textiles are collected through donation bins, clothing drives, or retailer take-back programs. Pre-consumer textile waste is gathered directly from manufacturers.
- Sorting: Collected items are sorted based on material type, and color.
- Processing: Textiles are mechanically shredded or chemically broken down to separate fibers. Contaminants and dyes are removed.
- Fiber Transformation: Processed fibers are transformed into new materials, either through mechanical spinning or chemical repolymerization.
- New Product Creation: Recycled yarn is woven or knitted into new fabrics and used to manufacture new clothing or other textile products.
What types of clothes can’t be recycled?
These types of clothing are impractical or too degraded to recycle:
- Blended fabrics: Some recyclers can handle blended fabrics, but they require more advanced technology. Many areas might not have textile recyclers that can separate natural-synthetic fabric blends.
- Soiled clothes: Items that are damp, moldy, oily, or soiled are generally rejected by recycling programs.
- Clothing with embellishments and fixtures: Garments that have non-fabric components such as buttons, zippers, or hooks must be pre-processed to remove the components. Some recyclers lack the budget to incorporate preprocessing staff. Items adorned with sequins, beads, or other embellishments are often not recyclable due to the complexity of pre-processing.
- Recycled polyester: Polyester can be recycled, but garments made of polyester that are mechanically recycled have shorter fibers and might not be suitable for recycling.
Market forecast for clothes recycling
Environmental concerns about textile production, government policy developments, and consumer demand are spurring recycling efforts and expanding the market for clothes made of recycled textiles.
The global clothing recycling market is poised to grow by about 4–7% through 2032 (1, 2). Technological advancements in textile processing and clothes manufacturing are expanding the supply of usable recycled fibers and the catalog of products fibers can be used to make.
Learn about clothes bale prices.
The benefits of recycling clothes
Some of the benefits of recycling clothes include:
- Reduced waste material in landfills since textile waste can take centuries to decompose.
- Conservation of raw materials and the energy required to produce new clothing.
- Decreased pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and the carbon footprint associated with textile production.
- Support for secondhand clothing markets and reduced demand for new clothes.
- Employment opportunities in the recycling and textile industry.
A sustainable future depends on recycling clothes and other waste materials. Active participation in textile recycling programs and support for businesses that use clothing fibers minimize the environmental impact of clothes production and clothing waste.
Best baling wire for clothes recycling
Baling wire is integral to the clothes baling and recycling process. Baling Wire Direct is proud to empower the recycling industry through high-quality US-made baling wire products. Here are some of our best products for baling clothes:
- Single loop bale ties can be tied to different lengths to accommodate inconsistent bale sizes. They work with manual vertical and horizontal balers. We offer both black annealed and galvanized single loop bale ties.
- Double loop bale ties are pre-cut to length and feature a loop (hook) at both ends. The double loop configuration accelerates the tying process, increasing productivity.
- Black annealed wire feeds smoothly through high-volume automatic balers that are commonly used in clothes recycling. The annealing process improves the wire’s elongation for baling expansive clothes bales.
The best type of wire and wire gauge for clothes bales depends on whether you have a horizontal or vertical balerand whether it is an automatic or manual tie. For horizontal and vertical balers, we recommend 12–14 gauge wire. For two-ram balers, we recommend 10–12 gauge wire. Talk to us if you’d like help choosing the best wire for your recycling center.
Baling wire products we offer
Baling Wire Direct sells the following high-quality baling wire products.