What Happens to Old Textiles and Clothing
Launch library · evergreen read
Discarded clothing generally follows one of a few paths, depending on its condition. Garments still in good wearable condition are often resold directly through second hand shops or exported to other markets, extending their useful life considerably before any further processing becomes necessary. This first path is generally the most resource efficient outcome available.
Items too worn for resale can sometimes be recycled into new materials, such as insulation, cleaning rags or, less commonly, broken back down into fibres for new textiles. This fibre recycling is more technically difficult than recycling glass or metal, particularly for blended fabrics combining natural and synthetic fibres. Sorting facilities increasingly rely on fibre scanning technology to identify blends quickly, though the process remains slower and more costly than recycling single material fabrics.
A significant share of discarded clothing, however, still ends up in landfill, where synthetic fibres in particular can take an extremely long time to break down. This is part of why reducing how much clothing is bought and discarded in the first place is generally considered more effective than relying on recycling alone. Buying fewer, longer lasting garments and repairing them when possible remains the most direct way an individual shopper can reduce this particular waste stream.