May/June 1995
Textile Recycling is a vital niche in the scrap recycling industry, not to mention a big—and international—commodity business. This primer provides a look at the basics of this important recycling market.
By Sarah Hart Winchester
Sarah Hart Winchester is a Duluth, Ga.-based writer specializing in technical and business issues.
Textile recycling may be an unfamiliar business to many processors of other scrap materials, but this niche has the same roots and a similar history as scrap metals, paper, glass, and rubber. In other words, textile recycling is simply another branch on the recycling tree.
As with its scrap brethren, the textile recycling business began with peddlers, who traveled door to door, buying and selling virtually anything of value, including metals, paper, bones, and—yes—textiles. Over the decades, these peddlers tended to trade in their horse-drawn carts, lease a plot of land, purchase processing equipment, and specialize their businesses. Many who started out handling textiles, for instance, opted to focus on say, metals of paper. Others—the rag men—dropped everything but textiles, banking their futures on the increasingly automated and ever-growing textile business.
And, indeed, there are certainly many textile recycling companies with the longevity to rival that of other scrap businesses. “we’ve been around for a hundred years,” asserts David Darwin, director of operations for Newco Fibre Co. (Charlotte, N.C.). “There have always been byproducts from the textile process, such as cotton waste, and we’ve always had markets for these products.”
(For a further look at textile recycling compared with other recycling industry segments, see “Just another Scrap Niche?” on page 102.)
Today, the textile recycling industry is far from being an obscure scrap recycling niche. It’s nothing less than big business. In the United States alone, for instance, some 350 textile recyclers recover approximately 2 million tons of textile scrap annually, according to the Council for Textile Recycling, a division of the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (Bethesda, Md.).
Business Basics
In contrast to its simplistic early days, the textile recycling industry today is based on a network of major players,, including used clothing collection agencies, such as municipal governments and national charities like Goodwill Industries International Inc. (Bethesda, Md.); used clothing dealers and exporters; fiber recyclers; and wiping rag graders, also called rag sorters, who grade textile scrap from the public, making purchasing decisions based on the textiles’ condition content.
In terms of materials, textile recycling encompasses all kinds of items and trimmings made from natural and/or synthetic fabrics, as well as animal furs and skins. As with metal and paper scrap, the list of specific textile items potentially recoverable is as broad as the list of potential sources.
On the industrial side, for instance, many textile recyclers handle productions scrap from fiber producers, which generate recyclable fibers in the process of cleaning, combining, pulling, and spinning their yarn and filament products. Other sources of production scrap include textile mills and apparel and furniture manufacturers, from which recyclers buy clippings of toweling, sheeting, carpeting, and dozens of knitted and woven materials.
According to those in the business, most of such scrap material is purchased at a relatively low cost—from zero to 30 cents a pound—owing to the fact that recyclers are often seen as providing the service of collecting and removing unwanted materials for the supplier.
Of course, textile scrap drawn from the public is also a low- or no-cost raw material. And, indeed, that’s where most of the world’s textile recovery efforts have been focused.
The largest segment of scrap culled from postconsumer sources is used clothing, most of which reaches the recycling industry through government and charitable groups. In addition drop-off and curbside programs throughout Europe account for a significant portion of textile scrap recovered, and such setups are gaining strength in the United States, with 42 states implementing some type of curbside textile collection, the Council for Textile Recycling reports.
Making the Grade
There are literally hundreds of grades of recycled textiles, sources note, and as with other scrap commodities, their fluctuate based on supply and demand, as well as quality of the material. “Textile scrap sells anywhere from half a cent a pound to up to 60 to 70 cents a pound, depending on the grade,” says Darwin . “It’s difficult to list process for each product because the quality of each grade varies even within the same manufacturing process.” Aron Trachtenberg, owner of Aron Trachtenberg Wipers and Textiles (Pawtucket, R.I.), adds to the assessment: “Recycled textiles sell from the high 20 cents to the low 30 cents per pound for cheap grades, on up to $2 a pound for good towels that haven’t been ripped or torn. There’s a wide range of pricing.”
In general, any textile made of only one fiber, such as cotton or wool, is worth more than those composed of several fibers. Higher textile grades include clean golf shirts, wool sweaters, and blue jeans. "The most sought-after product is knitted polo materials for wiping cloths," says Trachtenberg, pointing out that "color is a lesser grade than white, and unbleached material is a lesser grade than bleached."
Another factor that affects value, says Don Cantrell, vice president of Leigh Fibers Inc. (Spartanburg, S.C.), is the extent of the processing of a fiber. "The tighter something is twisted, the harder it is to get it back into fiber," he says. "We open cotton back up into fiber, and that's a high grade. The best grade is combing noils stripped off cotton. Card waste, rovings, and sliver are better because they haven't gone through the complete cycle."
Other fairly high-end products, Cantrell says, are cotton knit rags or flat-knit T-shirts because they are clean, can be processed back into the fiber stage, and can be blended with raw cotton for medical uses, such as gauze or the cotton found in medicine bottles.
Colored thread wastes, on the other hand, are a lower grade, frequently used for export, as are textiles composed largely of synthetic fibers such as nylon, polyester, and acrylic. "Many of these materials go into low-end products, such as automotive sound-deadening pads," says Cantrell. "They're also used for insulation and for decorator pillows and bed pillows."
Another low-end grade is any bale composed of undersized items—generally defined as those measuring less than a yard. Many small pieces such as this are destined only for foreign markets, says Harvey Goldstein, president of M. Goldstein & Sons Inc. (Griffin, Ga.), because companies in the United States simply aren't interested in smaller pieces—called mill ends or remnants—for manufacturing. Remnants of woven and knit fabrics, usually packed from 1 yard and over to fill rolls, are sold both domestically and exported to retailers and manufacturers.
Bales incorporating different materials are also considered a lower grade. "When there are four or five different fibers mixed in, you can't label it or dye it," remarks one fiber recycler, "and nobody's willing to take it because they don't know what it is."
Also at the low end are textile scraps from the mill floor that have been mingled with oil, grease, and other contaminants, as well as wet textiles, because moisture can cause the material to decompose and spontaneously combust.
And, of course, "some of what is generated by the textile industry can't be recycled at all," explains one fiber recycler. "Either the fiber is too short, or there's some kind of finish on it, or it's the way it's made. In some cases, the fiber is bonded to rubber or foam, so there are all kinds of reasons that all textiles can't be recycled."
Where It All Goes
Similar to other types of scrap, recycled textiles are used in a wide variety of applications and products—from new clothing, blankets, and carpets to filler and packaging. Almost half of all textiles recovered from the public go into new clothing, says the Council for Textile Recycling, with the remainder becoming wiping cloths and polishing materials. Other products that frequently contain recycled textiles include high-quality paper and currency, roofing, flooring, toys, and upholstery. In addition, Darwin points out, recycled textiles are frequently used to make bedding, home and automotive upholstery products, sanitary napkins, gauze, and other surgical supplies.
Then again, some recovered textiles—namely good-quality used clothing—are used just as they are rather than being cut up or processed for their fiber content. How major is the used clothing niche? While worldwide figures are not available, in the United States, it accounts for about 2 billion pounds—or about half—of the annual recycled textile trade, and that proportion likely holds true for other countries with a developed textile recycling industry. Currently, approximately 50 U.S. collection companies acquire and sort old clothing, purchasing it by the pound or by the piece from charities and for-profit textile dealers.
According to textile recyclers, the purchase and sale of old clothing from charities, called institutional rags, might be described as a win-win-win-win situation: consumers get rid of unwanted clothing, charities obtain much needed funds, textile recyclers find a reliable supply of clean used clothing, and people in developing countries-where much of the clothing goes-have the opportunity to purchase affordable garments. The main downside to this segment of the business, sources say, is that demand for used clothing from the consuming countries is often subject to disruption from civil strife and discouraged by high tariffs imposed to protect native textile industries.
Processing Parameters
Processing recovered textiles primarily involves sorting the scrap into various grades and, for those materials that won't be reused as is, cleaning and then cutting or shearing the fabric. The resulting product is then baled and sold as wiping rags or sent on for further processing—typically using the same types of fiber openers and cleaning equipment the textile mills use—to yield fibers ready for sale back to textile manufacturers.
While many of the textile processing approaches are the same the world over, there are a few differences between some of the major players. European textile recyclers, for instance, are more likely to reconvert textiles into fiber than American recyclers.
The reason? Different labeling laws. It's difficult for U.S. operators to sell reprocessed textile fiber for use in products sold in the United States because federal regulations require a precise description of the fiber content of most products, sources note. This is not true overseas, so European textile recyclers have greater leeway in marketing reclaimed fibers, even when they're unsure of the exact composition of the fibers.
In the used clothing niche, processing usually involves sorting the clothes, then exporting them to developing countries in 100-pound bales. "We collect, sort, and fumigate the clothes, and we ship them to Nigeria," explains Albert Udom, president of Rital International Inc. (Martinez, Ga.). "Some companies wash the clothes first, but that's a specialized market. Clothes that have been washed can sell for $1.50 a pound, while most of the used clothing we sell is priced at 30 cents a pound."
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As these textile recyclers can vouch, today's textile recycling business has come a long way from its rag-man days of yore. The one thing that hasn't changed, they say, is the important position this niche occupies in the scrap recycling industry.
Textile Recycling is a vital niche in the scrap recycling industry, not to mention a big—and international—commodity business. This primer provides a look at the basics of this important recycling market.