The industry is constantly unleashing new projects, innovations and collaborations designed to improve sustainability and reuse. Each month, we’ll bring you the latest in sustainability and circularity news so you can stay up to date on developments.
CIRCULARITY NEWS
Less than 1 percent of the 15.4 million metric tons of used textiles generated in the U.S. each year is recycled back into new clothing with major barriers including fragmented collection infrastructure, low consumer participation and unprofitable recycling economics, according to a new report from the Accelerating Circularity nonprofit entitled “Rags to Revenue.” The business case for post-consumer textile-to-textile recycling remains fundamentally uncompetitive, with textiles “overwhelming waste management capacity” and accounting for nearly 8 percent of landfill mass in the U.S.
Australian TX recycling pioneer BlockTexx has teamed up with polyester manufacturer Asia Pacific Fibers to develop and supply textile-to-textile recycled polyester filament yarns. Branded as Re-petitive, the yarns are available with inherent functional features such as stretch, moisture and biodegradability. Recently, EREMA and BlockTexx partnered aiming at scaling textile-to-textile recycling by processing polyester from blended textiles with plans including a 50 kiloton per annum plant and alignment with upcoming EU Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation.
Circ, in partnership with H&M Group and Lenzing, will launch garments in fall 2025 and spring 2026 made from recycled polycotton waste—including 2.6 tons processed during a UNIDO-backed pilot in Bangladesh featuring 30 percent Circ pulp in TENCEL™ | Circ with REFIBRA™ technology, marking the first commercial integration of Circ’s textile-to-textile recycling into global supply chains. Additionally, the textile recycling company Circ added a raft of new partners to its “Circ-Ready” program, which works to showcase the benefits of its cotton and polyester processing technology to fashion brands; the new members of the program are Arvind Ltd., Aditya Birla Group, Cone Denim, NZ Tex Group, Sewang, Shahi Exports Pvt. and Unitedtex Ltd.
Outdoor retail giant REI has signed a three-year offtake agreement with materials science company Ambercycle for its Cycora-branded recycled polyester. The agreement will help Ambercycle scale up production of its next-gen materials and is also intended to boost REI’s efforts to minimize its environmental impact.
Mechanical cotton recycler Recover has joined the T2T Alliance, a coalition of textile recyclers advocating for progressive policy action to accelerate circularity in the textile industry. The T2T Alliance, which also includes Circ, Circulose, RE&UP, Syre and Samsara Eco, aims to ensure that T2T recyclers are recognized and supported within the EU policy framework. Additionally, Recover and H&M have entered a multi-year agreement to integrate Recover’s mechanically recycled cotton fiber, RCotton, into H&M’s collections, leveraging five global recycling hubs and around 75 years of textile recycling expertise to enable industrial scaling.
According to Waste and Resources Action Program (WRAP), the UK’s rising clothing consumption could cost local authorities up to 200 million pounds annually (EUR 234 million) by 2035 and emit an additional 2.5 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year due to increased landfill and incineration. In response, the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) launched the National Textile Recycling Infrastructure Plan backed by a proposed 277 million pound (EUR 324 million) investment. UKFT, in collaboration with Circular Fashion Innovation Network, UK Research and Innovation, Veolia and Oxford Economics, launched this two-phase plan to build a circular textile economy by 2035, focusing on short-term infrastructure and long-term scaling, with 740 kilotons of non- reusable textiles discarded annually in the UK according to ACT UK.
SUSTAINABILITY NEWS
Cascale has released version 3.11 of its Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI), which now includes new cotton datasets and expanded material categories for home furnishing materials such as stoneware, natural stone, glass ceramic, porcelain and container glass, and updated data for nylon, polyester and leather. The updates shall enhance data accuracy and support science-based material choices.
According to Sourcing Journal, a Spanish study published in Environmental Research analyzed 43 infant garments and detected 303 different chemicals including pesticides, flame retardants, preservatives and pharmaceuticals such as the antidepressant venlafaxine found in over half the samples, raising concerns about infants’ vulnerability to daily chemical exposure from textiles and highlighting the lack of harmonized global regulations on chemicals in clothing. This research is the first to comprehensively screen baby clothing for all detectable chemicals, rather than focusing on a narrow set of known toxins. The study does not mention any specific companies or brands.
German Stiftung Warentest purchased 162 products sold via Temu and Shein (all from third-party sellers) and found that 110 out of 162 did not meet EU safety standards. In one instance, fabric toy cloths (from Temu) contained too high levels of formaldehyde, which is known to cause contact allergies.
According to Sourcing Journal, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has updated its proposed EU-wide restriction on PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), incorporating over 5,600 stakeholder comments and introducing exemptions such as up to 13.5 years for recycled-content textiles and limited allowances for protective equipment (for example, gear for first responders and military), while excluding outdoor technical textiles as there are many PFAS-free alternatives available offering similar performance. The final opinion of the Committee for Socio-economic Analysis (SEAC) is expected by end of 2026.
Research into microfiber pollution from textiles is set to expand following the conclusion of the first phase of the “Behind the Break” project, led by UK’s Northumbria University’s FibER Hub and The Microfiber Consortium (TMC), which tested 24 fabric types with support from global fashion brands and manufacturers, including Levi’s, Inditex, Kering and Paradise Textiles, to investigate microfiber shedding and contamination across the supply chain, as part of the broader IMPACT+ initiative led by Northumbria University.
