Fibre-to-fibre' recycling hindered by sorting capacity

Almost 500,000 tonnes of low-value post-consumer textiles are "readily available" for 'fibre-to-fibre' recycling in six European countries, according to a report published in September by Fashion for Good.

Fibre-to-fibre recycling refers to the 'closed-loop' recycling of textiles, where the outcome of the recycling process would be spun with virgin fibre to manufacture new clothes with recycled content.

Reintroducing sorted and recycled textiles back into the value chain could generate an additional €74 million (£65 million) per year, Fashion for Good claims.

Fashion for Good is a global environmental initiative which works with the fashion industry. Its report, entitled 'Sorting for Circularity Europe', analysed the composition of textile waste in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK.