Textiles in TOMRA Machine

Building a circular textiles industry in America

The average US consumer discards more than 35 kg of textiles in a year. How can we turn this challenge into an opportunity? TOMRA teamed up with Accelerating Circularity and Goodwill Industries to explore solutions with US industry experts.

The textile industry represents 3% of global CO2 emissions. Every year, over 100 billion pieces of clothing are produced. Less than 1% are recycled into new textiles, and in the US 85% ends up in landfill or incineration. Emissions, waste, and overproduction – these problems are growing daily. The global overconsumption of textiles is fueling an unprecedented environmental crisis. How can we turn this challenge into an opportunity?

Gathering US textile experts in North Carolina

To address this vital question, Accelerating Circularity, TOMRA and Goodwill Industries brought together representatives from across the US textile industry: Brands, manufacturers, collectors, sorters and recyclers were invited to North Carolina – a historical region for the US textile manufacturing industry. With many innovative recycling technologies scaling nearby, the Carolinas (North and South Carolina) are making strides to play a leading role for textile circularity in the US.

Two days of collaboration, reuse and recycling

The two-day educational tour started with a tour of the facilities of Goodwill Industries in North Carolina, focusing on the collection of textiles and manual sorting for reuse. Reuse is an essential step to prolong the life of textiles and reduce our consumption. Goodwill Industries is a social enterprise providing job training, employment services and other community-based programs, and consists of a network of independent community-based organizations across the US and Canada, in addition to several international markets.

TOMRA invited industry representatives to the headquarters of TOMRA Sorting America, where we demonstrated how our automated sensor technology sorts textiles by material and color. Automated sorting is crucial to enable recycling of textiles that can no longer be reused or repaired.

Regulations shaping up to support circularity

To facilitate sustainable circular business models, some form of regulatory intervention shifting the incentives of established linear economies is usually required. Introducing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles is viewed as a critical tool to help enable circularity. Together with mandatory recycled content requirements, EPR schemes are important to help finance the infrastructure, material and data flows required to keep fibers in a closed loop.

With California signing its EPR bill into law this September, the largest US state is set to introduce essential regulations to make the transformation happen.

Moving towards increased circularity for US textiles

Transforming the textiles industry will require collaboration across the value chain, exploration of new business models, introduction of technology and the maturing of recycling technologies to turn existing and discarded fibers into products with productive utility value – or into secondary materials to that can, in turn, supply a more sustainable textiles industry.

Check out TOMRA’s whitepaper “Transforming Textiles” for a comprehensive overview of our key beliefs for enabling textiles circularity.

We need to make it easier for people to do something better with their textiles.

– Raymond Randall, Waste Management

Together, we are exploring innovative ways to tackle the textile waste crisis through collaboration, technology, and shared vision. The solution is clear: we must extend the life of our textiles.

– Mari Larsen Sæther, Recycling Lead

Raymond Randall, Sr. Manager Textiles - Sustainable Growth Solutions, Waste Management
Mari Larsen Sæther, Recycling Lead, TOMRA Textiles