I’ve been on a committee for a local charity for many years. This morning I was asked to buy t-shirts for our annual event. I accepted because I thought my research for my earlier column made me an expert on textiles. Little did I know what I was getting into.  

I contacted our normal vendor and learned the price for 200 t-shirts had gone up 64%. I said, “ridiculous!” The vendor said that tariffs resulted in a higher price because the t-shirts were made in China. I then asked about fiber content and was told they were 80% polyester and 20% cotton. “Oh, no,” I said. “I want 100% cotton.” The response: “Your price will double.” This fashion business ain’t easy. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

This experience, and the flurry of emails I received after my “exposé” of the fashion industry, piqued my interest even further. One emailer told me I’d only told “half the story.” Some of you noted that there are plenty of examples of circular fashion design, not just Patagonia. 

I will acknowledge there are positive signs of change in the Western Hemisphere, in Europe and the US. However, I’m sorry, the facts don’t lie: the fashion industry has done a lousy job, and textile landfills in Chile and Africa speak for themselves. There is just too much textile waste. My dilemma with the t-shirts is the tip of the iceberg.

On the other hand, I did neglect to mention some very creative developments. Mea culpa! 

There’s a company in Denver, CO, that not only works with Patagonia but other brands like Lululemon and The North Face. Tersus Solutions has a unique process that uses carbon dioxide (CO2) to clean and repair used apparel. Keep in mind, the Tersus process doesn’t reduce unwanted polyester from natural fibers. It is basically a refurbishing – an upcycling operation.   

Tersus has pioneered the use of CO2. They pressurize CO2 until it becomes a liquid (LCO2). At higher pressure it becomes super critical (SCC)2). 

By leveraging the different phases of CO2, many processes once considered impossible are achieved. The neat part about the Tersus solution is not just the recovery of textile by-product. It is also the use of CO2 that is generated and captured at a nearby ethanol plant. The process minimizes waste and microfiber shedding. Tersus also decontaminates used fire fighter gear and other personal protection equipment that is usually landfilled due to embedded toxins.  Pretty neat.

Textile recycling was added for the first time to this year’s Plastic Recycling Conference as a separate track. During this part of the conference, RRS, a highly regarded recycling consultancy, said that the US alone generates 17 million tons of discarded textile waste. Two-thirds of all the fibers are made from polyester, nylon, and other forms of plastic. (This jives with my earlier research.) They even had one workshop where they demonstrated the complexity of fiber identification. They actually brought in a bale of discarded clothing, and using scanning devices, participants tried to determine whether an apparel item was wool or polyester or some other synthetic fiber. During this session, Helio Moreira, a manager of Textile House, a Slovakian company with over 200 second-hand shops across Europe, said, “There’s a high inaccuracy of fiber identification on the labels.  You can’t trust them.”  

It seems to me that is part of the issue the fashion industry must deal with: counterfeiting and illegal identification of fiber by disreputable manufacturers.

During the conference, several innovative developments were introduced, all focused on identifying good and bad fiber.  

• Picvisa, Barcelona-based, introduced a “spectroscope with artificial intelligence that identifies color, fiber, texture, and more.”

• Refiberd from California demonstrated a hyperspectral camera and an AI system trained on a library of thousands of fiber samples to detect fiber blends.

• Sixone Labs, from British Columbia, is building a database of all the different permutations to help guide chemical recycling. 

I think what is fascinating about all of these is the emergence of EPR, Extended Producer Responsibility. There is no question, in my view, that the fashion industry is under pressure to change its business model. 

Progressive brands like Patagonia are part of the dynamic, but EPR is forcing brands to look at alternatives to landfilling used and unwanted apparel. While California is the leading advocate for change, there are other hot spots here in the US. 

Look, for example, at what is happening in Ohio:

The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) is participating in a textile waste study and pilot program partnership with Goodwill, Circular Thrift, and Leigh Fibers. The project is meant to get a better picture of how textile waste affects the region and test new methods for collecting and recycling the materials into new products.

SWACO will coordinate and fund the project, which establishes numerous textile drop-off sites for residents through August. After the material is collected, sorted and baled, it will be sent to textile recycling company Leigh Fibers in South Carolina. The items will be recycled into products such as vehicle insulation, furniture padding, packaging, and thermal insulation in construction materials, SWACO said in a statement.

And in New Jersey

Union County, NJ, is expanding its textile recycling program to offer services at an additional drop-off location. The county first launched textile recycling services in February as a way to divert such waste from disposal, and it has since diverted over 23,000 pounds of textiles from three drop-off sites around the country, officials said. It added another location in June.

“I’m sorry, the facts don’t lie: the fashion industry has done a lousy job, and textile landfills in Chile and Africa speak for themselves.”   

The county sends its textiles to Helpsy, a clothing and textile recycling company that inspects and sorts clothing, shoes, and household linens and resells reusable items to second-hand stores and online resellers. 

Helpsy says it saves municipalities around the country over $1.6 million in tipping fees in 2024. 

Union County commissioner chair Lourdes Leon said in a statement that the program is meant to make it easier and more convenient to recycle materials that many residents might otherwise throw in the trash. 

The partnership with Helpsy fits with the county’s other recycling and waste reduction programs and the county’s broader sustainability goals, she said.

California’s 58707 is an EPR law for textile recycling that passed last year. It requires that apparel manufacturers form a “producer responsibility organization” (PRO) that will develop solutions and opportunities to reduce textiles going into the landfill and improve recycling participation and infrastructure.

A number of countries in Europe have already legislated EPR that ensures that markets for textiles and films must be developed. Focus and common sense, as well as developments such as those mentioned above, will create much needed change to an industry that for too long has been lineal. Like other substrates in packaging that continue to be discarded, circularity in textile waste must occur. 

Editor’s note: Following the publishing of the most recent column, France has fined Chinese textile designer Shein 40 million euros (equivalent to USD $47 million) for erroneous promotions and their inability to commit to environmental claims on their website.

Another Letter from the Earth

Calvin Frost is chairman of Channeled Resources Group, headquartered in Chicago, the parent company of Maratech International and GMC Coating. His email address is cfrost@channeledresources.com.