How often do you purchase new clothes? With the global garment industry producing around 100 billion new clothing items each year, options and fashion trends seem unlimited. It’s amazing how quickly designs hit the shelves. A report found that fashion manufacturers could design, manufacture, and have clothing items ready to sell in as little as 10 days or as long as 8 weeks. Every item consumes energy and uses water. Shein’s clothing is ready for sale the fastest at 10 days, and they control about 50% of the clothing market. Given how quickly fashions are ready for sale, it’s not surprising that consumers purchase an average of 53 new items each year. They also dispose of them when fashion trends change or items wear out faster than expected.

Here’s the problem with that. Only 1% of recycled clothes ever become new garments. An alarming 85% of textiles end up in landfills. When clothing is tossed into the trash, it creates a significant amount of microplastics that enter the air, soil, and water.

Recycling Textiles vs. Donating Them: Pros & Cons

Between the 1960s and 1990s, textile recycling rates were around 30%. That rate’s declined to just under 16% in recent years. It’s time to improve that. When textiles enter landfills, they don’t just break down and become soil again. Many of today’s clothing items are made from synthetic fibers, such as polyester. Polyester is a type of plastic that takes hundreds of years to break down. Over those decades, microplastics are entering the air, soil, and water.

Microplastics are a problem. These tiny plastic particles are being found in concerning areas. They’ve been discovered in remote mountain lakes. They’ve been found in the pollen bees collect to bring to the queen. They’ve been found inside the human body.

Preventing this starts with proper recycling of the materials. It’s also important to make sure clothing items get as much use as possible before they’re recycled. That’s where donations come in.

Donations: Pros and Cons

Donating your unwanted clothing is ideal as it extends the usefulness of an item. Each clothing item that finds a new home reduces the demand for newly manufactured clothes. If items are not torn, damaged, or stained, donation is best. There are considerations, however.

Pros:

• Production demands for clothing decrease

• Water and energy consumption conservation

• People in need of affordable clothing have more options.

Cons:

• About 5% of donated clothing ends up in the landfill, according to Goodwill.

• Only 10% to 30% of donated clothing is resold in the country where it was collected.

• About 70% is shipped to countries like Ghana and Kenya, where about half of it ends up in landfills or is burned.

Recycling: Pros and Cons

When clothing and other textiles aren’t good candidates for donation, recycling is the better option. How items are recycled varies.

• Mechanical Recycling – Most common option. Clothes are cut into smaller pieces or shredded to break down fibers for use in carpet padding, insulation, or industrial rags. It’s not a good choice for blended fabrics like poly-cotton.

• Chemical Recycling – Chemicals are used to break down the textiles into their fibers. The goal is to turn the fabric into raw materials. It’s not used as much because of the energy required during the process.

Pros:

Cons:

• Uses a lot of energy to complete the process.

• Microplastics are released into the environment when fabrics, such as polyester, are shredded. Both recycling and donation depend on the quality of the materials. Cheaper fabrics that are already threadbare when produced aren’t ideal for either option. Cheap fabrics end up in the landfill. Purchasing higher-quality items is always the best choice.

Get to Know the EU’s Textile Waste Mandate

The European Union (EU) found a significant hurdle with recycling. Only 1% of the clothing being recycled became new clothing. This is why the EU established the Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles.

By 2030, the EU wants textile products to be:

• Durable, repairable, and recyclable

• Easier to recycle through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs

• Made with materials containing recycled fibers without hazardous chemicals or insecticides
• Produced using methods that protect the environment and workers

Provided with a Digital Product Passport to guide consumers when making choices The EU’s vision is possible in the U.S., too. The STEWARD Act is being developed. If it passes, it will track textile waste alongside data collected on waste, recycling, and composting. It’s an essential first step to monitoring textile waste and recycling rates. Some states have begun enacting textile EPR laws as well.

• California – Senate Bill 707 requires producers to implement statewide repair, reuse, and recycling programs for textiles.

• Massachusetts – The Clothing and Textile Recovery law bans all textiles from the landfill. They must be donated or dropped off in a textile collection bin or recycler.

• New York – Senate Bill S3217A mandates that producers of textile products establish a collection plan for recycling. It’s expected to be implemented in 2027.
• Washington – House Bill 1420 establishes a statewide textile repair, reuse, and recycling program.

It’s also important for consumers to do their part. Support manufacturers who use sustainable fabrics like bamboo, cotton, or linen. Better, support manufacturers with take-back programs. Here are a few of them.

• H&M – Bring unwanted textiles to an H&M store and get a discount voucher. Recycling boxes are found in stores, usually near the cashiers, and you can drop off any brand.

• The North Face – The Renewed program allows you to trade in outerwear for credits toward new items. Go to a store or use the mail-in option. The collected outerwear is washed and resold as used items. If it’s not suitable for resale, it’s properly recycled.

• Patagonia – Trade in gently used pants, jackets, backpacks, luggage, and outerwear in stores or via the mail-in program to earn a gift card for recycling your textile items.

Use Both Donation and Recycling to Lower Textile Waste

Both donation and recycling offer tremendous benefits in reducing the amount of textiles in landfills. Using both techniques ensures you’re doing everything possible. Donating gently worn clothing has the lowest environmental footprint, but recycling keeps used materials out of landfills. When deciding what to do, consider the quality of the clothing. If the item is damaged or threadbare, recycling is better. If you donate it, no one will buy it, and it ends up in the trash. Make 2026 the year you ensure your textiles are reused rather than trashed. Purchase brands that last. As tempting as bargain clothing is, it’s often disposable fashion that won’t be around a year from now. When you do need to dispose of something, Recycle Nation has an interactive guide to help you find the best place to recycle your used clothing if donations aren’t possible.