How much do you really know about textile recycling? If you’re like most Americans, the answer is: Not much. As a people, we’ve gotten very good at recycling paper, metal, plastic, and glass, but the recycling of textiles has yet to become commonplace. We want to change that!

So what are textiles, anyway?

Textiles are fabrics and products made from fibrous threads. Common household textiles include clothing, shoes, soft toys (plush toys), rugs, curtains, bed linens, kitchen linens, bathroom linens, and carpeting. Textiles can be made from natural fibers such as cotton, hemp, silk, and even bamboo and corn. There are many synthetic textiles, including items made from polyester, nylon, and lycra. There are also blended fabrics such as rayon, that are made from both natural and synthetic fibers. In fact, most modern clothing is made with a blend of natural and synthetic fibers. Regardless of whether it’s natural or synthetic, nearly all textiles can be recycled in some way.

Textiles can be recycled? Really?

Yes, really! Here’s how it happens: You drop off a bag of clothing at a charity or thrift store. The bag is opened and your items are graded and sorted according to quality, fabric type, and a host of other categories depending on the institution to which it has been donated. Items that are fit for resale are sent to the sales floor. Items that are torn and/or stained, missing buttons, have broken zippers, etc. are set aside. At a certain point, this collection of imperfect pieces will hit critical mass and when it does, the charity has a two main options for offloading the accumulation: Wholesale rag dealers, and textile recycling companies.

Wholesale Rag Dealers: EcoGoodz is a wholesale rag dealer. We buy mixed rags (imperfect items and items that didn’t sell in a resale setting) as well as credential clothing (unsorted, ungraded donations still in their original bags–sometimes thrift stores receive so many donations they can’t even sort through them all!). We then sell these bales of used clothing at wholesale prices to countries around the world, focusing on developing nations. In fact, from January to April 2015, we moved nearly 7 million pounds of textiles! Just think; that’s 7 million pounds of used clothing, paired shoes, and baled linens that didn’t end up in the landfill!

Textile Recycling Companies: Items that are sent to textile recycling companies are again sorted according to a number of different combinations, including fabric color, fiber content, fabric quality, etc. Then, using specialized machinery, the fabric is shredded and processed into a fluffy, fibrous state. Sometimes these fibers are re-spun into yarn. Sometimes this fluffy fiber becomes home insulation, carpet padding, upholstery stuffing, sound proofing material, and more.

Between charitable institutions, wholesale rag dealers, and textile recycling companies, it sounds like textile waste isn’t such a big problem after all.

You’re partially right. There are institutions in place to receive and process textiles. But textile waste is a problem because most people simple aren’t aware that textile recycling is an option. In 2012, we the people of the United States of America. generated nearly 28 billion pounds of textile waste. Of that, only 4.4 billion pounds was recovered for recycling. That’s a mere 15.7%. By contrast, that same year we Americans recycled 65% of the paper we used and 55% of all the aluminum cans we emptied. Those are stark numbers!

So how can I help?

You can help in several ways. First, take good care of the clothing you already have so that when you’re finished with it, you can either give it to friends or family members, resell it yourself, or donate it to a charity or thrift store. The better the condition of the garment, the greater the chance it will be worn again by someone else. This same principle holds true for other textiles such as paired shoes, linens, and soft toys. Second, be an educated and mindful consumer. An educated consumer seeks to know which brands strive for sustainability, pay garment workers fair wages, and produce quality products. A mindful consumer knows the difference between “needs” and “wants” and exercises restraint in making purchases. Third, donate your unwanted textiles to charities and/or thrift stores. This is a step you’re probably already doing. Your donations are important and they make a difference to a great many people. If you have ripped, stained, and/or other imperfect items, with a little research you can find companies that will accept such items.

With consistent effort, we can eliminate textile waste in the U.S. We’re in! …are you?

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Who are we and why do we care about textile waste?

EcoGoodz is a wholesale clothing supplier in the USA. We buy, mixed rags, baled linens, paired shoes (used shoes), soft toys, hard toys, and more from charities and thrift stores across the country. We then sell these items at deeply discounted wholesale rates to entities around the world, with an emphasis on developing nations. Through our work with wholesale used clothes, wholesale linens, and wholesale used shoes, we’ve kept millions of pounds of clothing, shoes, and linens out of the landfill–something we are strongly committed to. For more information, contact information is available on our website and on our Google+ page.