Textile Circularity in Europe: Research Focuses on Giving Every Fibre a Second Life
Improved sorting, advanced spinning and chemical recovery could help Europe transform textile waste into valuable raw materials and commercially viable products.
Europe’s textile recycling industry is exploring new ways to recover value from discarded clothing, with recent research highlighting the importance of better sorting, improved fibre processing and chemical separation. The goal is to ensure that used garments are directed towards the most suitable next application rather than becoming low-value waste.
Every discarded garment contains different forms of value. Some clothes can be reused, while others can provide fibres for new yarn or chemicals for industrial applications. Identifying the right route is becoming an important part of building a commercially viable circular textile industry.
Recycled Fibres Remain a Small Share of the Market
According to Textile Exchange’s 2025 Materials Market Report, global fibre production reached approximately 132 million tonnes in 2024. Recycled fibres accounted for 7.6% of the market, but less than 1% of total fibre production came from recycled pre-consumer and post-consumer textiles.
The figures highlight a major challenge for the industry: recycled content does not necessarily mean that discarded garments have been converted into new textile products.
For textile manufacturers and fashion brands, improving circularity will require reliable supplies of recycled materials with consistent composition, quality and performance. Recycling companies must also develop processes that can handle different fabrics, blends, dyes and finishes while producing materials that meet buyers’ specifications.
Better Sorting Can Improve Recycling Efficiency
Accurate identification of textile composition is essential for selecting the right recycling process. Near-infrared imaging and other spectroscopic techniques can help distinguish fibres, but identifying small quantities of materials such as elastane remains challenging.
Research published in 2026 highlighted the difficulties of identifying blended textiles, particularly when chemical treatments, environmental conditions and minor fibre components affect the results.
This matters because even a small percentage of elastane can influence whether a cotton-rich garment is suitable for a particular recycling process. More accurate sorting could help recyclers reduce contamination, improve processing efficiency and supply more consistent raw materials.
Industry experts and technology developers will need to connect sorting systems with the requirements of downstream recycling facilities to ensure that recovered textiles meet practical manufacturing standards.
Mechanical Recycling Opens New Opportunities for Recycled Cotton
Mechanical recycling remains an important route for recovering fibres from used textiles. However, opening and processing fabrics can shorten fibres, making it difficult to produce high-quality yarn.
Industrial-scale trials reported in May 2026 demonstrated that optimised combing and spinning methods could produce ring-spun yarn containing 50% mechanically recycled cotton.
The trials also reported improved yarn quality compared with a carded yarn containing 25% recycled cotton, including approximately half the measured neps and thick places.
The findings suggest that recycling performance depends not only on the proportion of recovered cotton but also on fibre preparation and spinning technology.
For spinning mills, these developments could create opportunities to use more recycled cotton in applications requiring consistent yarn quality. However, manufacturers must also consider fibre losses during combing and ensure that the final product remains commercially competitive.
Chemical Recycling Offers Alternatives for Blended Fabrics
Blended fabrics, particularly polyester-cotton combinations, present another challenge because their components can require different recycling methods.
A 2025 study investigated a chemical separation process for polycotton textiles using acid hydrolysis followed by polyester glycolysis. Researchers reported a 75% molar glucose yield from the cotton fraction and an isolated yield of 78%, at above 98% purity, for a chemical building block recovered from the polyester fraction.
The research also included experiments using a 230-litre pilot reactor and a trial involving 26.1 kilograms of mixed post-consumer textiles. Some garments were not completely hydrolysed, demonstrating the challenges of processing varied clothing waste at a larger scale.
Unlike mechanical recycling, this process does not preserve the cotton as intact fibres. Instead, it converts cotton into sugars and recovers chemical building blocks from polyester for potential industrial use.
Such technologies could expand recycling options for mixed-fibre garments that are difficult to process through conventional mechanical methods. Their commercial success will depend on processing costs, product quality, energy requirements and the availability of buyers for the recovered materials.
Recovering Dyes Could Add Further Value
Textile circularity also involves the chemicals and colourants used in manufacturing. Research published in November 2025 demonstrated methods for extracting, purifying and reusing dyes from polyester textiles.
