Chapter 6 — full chapter
6.4 Fibre and Material Recovery Pathways
Mechanical recycling
Mechanical recycling usually involves sorting, shredding and opening textile waste into fibres. These fibres can then be used for new yarns, nonwovens, insulation, fillings or other applications.
Mechanical recycling works best with clean, well-sorted and relatively simple material streams. Fibre quality can decrease during the process, so mechanically recycled fibres are often blended with virgin fibres or used in lower-grade applications.
Chemical recycling
Chemical recycling breaks materials down at polymer or molecular level. It can support textile-to-textile recycling in some cases, especially for selected fibre types.
However, chemical recycling usually needs precise sorting, clean inputs and industrial infrastructure. It is not a universal solution for all textile waste.
Textile-to-textile recycling
Textile-to-textile recycling aims to turn textile waste into new textile fibres, yarns or fabrics. It is one of the main goals of circular fashion, but it remains technically and logistically challenging.
Main barriers include:
- mixed fibre compositions
- elastane
- coatings and finishes
- colour contamination
- low fibre quality
- lack of accurate product data
- limited recycling infrastructure
- difficulty collecting enough consistent material.
Designers and SMEs can support textile-to-textile recycling by simplifying material composition, reducing unnecessary trims, avoiding problematic finishes and keeping better product information.
Composting and biodegradation
Composting and biodegradation are only suitable when the product has been designed for biological recovery. A natural fibre is not automatically compostable.
For biological recovery to be realistic, the full product must be considered: fibre, dye, finish, coating, sewing thread, labels, trims and possible contamination during use.
Products with synthetic blends, elastane, plastic trims, harmful dyes, coatings or finishes are usually not suitable for this route.
Case studies: Nudie Jeans, Worn Again Technologies, Back to Eco / Infinit Denim