Chapter 2 — full chapter
2.1 Recycled materials
Recycled materials are made by recovering existing resources and processing them into new material inputs. In textiles, this can include post-consumer garments, home textiles, production offcuts, paper waste, cellulosic textile waste, leather residues and other material streams that would otherwise be discarded (Textile Exchange, 2023; European Commission, 2026).
Using recycled materials can reduce dependence on virgin resources and help keep material value in circulation. However, successful recycling depends on collection, sorting, material identification, quality control and appropriate processing technologies (Sandin & Peters, 2018; Textile Exchange, 2025).