Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1533930
ouston, we have a clothing problem. We're buying more apparel that is cheaply-made, wearing it for shorter periods of time and disposing of it at an alarming rate. In just the last 25 years, clothing sales have more than doubled, but the number of times an item of clothing is worn has decreased by about 36%, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Roughly 85% of all textiles produced are currently ending up in landfills. ere is a cog in our circular system and it stems from waste collection and sortation. In order to get feedstock for textile-to-textile recycling, we need garment preprocessing – sorting garments by fiber type, evaluating them for recyclability and removing trims (buttons, zippers). Currently there is almost no infrastructure for this task. What little pre-processing that does exist is done by hand, which is expensive and unable to process the volumes needed to make a dent in an enormous apparel waste issue. Recyclers want to pay as little as possible for their feedstock so it's very hard for garment processors to make a profit. To build the network, establish laws and bring forth the economic funds to make this succeed – to handle millions and millions of tons of textile and garment waste – will be a feat, but it is possible. e equipment to identify fibers does exist and AI could help, but efforts need to scaled up dramatically beyond existing pilot programs. Current Landscape Right now, apparel recycling starts with collectors (like Goodwill, who recovered 4.3 billion pounds of used goods in 2024) that take donations. ey sort through the clothing manually, pick out what has the highest resale value to sell in stores and the remainder is sold to people who make industrial rags or to secondary markets in third world countries. A very small percentage of clothing becomes feedstock. Currently what companies are willing to pay textileinsight.com Spring 2025 ~ Textile Insight • 17 Eastman has formed a strategic collaboration with next-life logistics company Debrand to find sustainable solutions for apparel waste.