Sorting for Circularity: A commercial assessment of fibre to fibre recycling in the USA

This report interprets findings from the Sorting for Circularity USA project and explores opportunities to maximize recovery of unwanted textiles for reuse and recycling through improved collection programs that distinguish the textiles suitable for recycling. Fashion for Good launched the Sorting for Circularity framework, together with Circle Economy, to identify the supply of textile waste and to determine the potential to valorise textile waste. The framework includes a methodology to assess fiber composition of textiles using Near Infrared (“NIR”) technology. With scalability as a key consideration, the project was initiated in Europe and expanded to India. Both projects found promising results on textile waste feedstock feasibility for fiber-to-fiber recycling. A full presentation of results from each research task can be found in the Appendix I - Composition Analysis Methodology and Results and Appendix IV - Survey Methodology and Results.