What Makes Recycled Textile Fibre Fit for Its Next Use?
As ZDHC opens its first Circularity Summit in Lisbon, cases from Bangladesh, India and Taiwan show where chemical checks, reliable feedstock and better buying practices can make a difference.
MAAT, the Lisbon summit venue, photographed in 2022. Leeturtle, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Displayed at reduced size, uncropped.
A bale of cutting scraps can arrive with a record of its factory, fabric composition and production lot. A bale of worn outdoor clothing may contain a similar fibre mix, but its coatings, repairs and history of use may be harder to establish. Both are potential feedstock, the material a recycler takes in. They call for different checks.
The ZDHC Global Circularity Summit is scheduled to open on 4 November at MAAT in Lisbon and run through 5 November. ZDHC describes it as the first edition. The published programme moves from feedstock, chemical risks and recycling methods on day one to financing and implementation on day two. This opening-day analysis uses the public agenda and published case material. [1] [2]
What is the Lisbon summit about?
ZDHC Foundation convenes the summit under the theme Decoding the Chemistry Behind Scalable Circularity. The first day examines how dyes, finishes, coatings and contaminants can affect sorting, recycling and the quality of recovered material. The programme includes a session on what feedstock can tell recyclers before processing and discussions on the opportunities and limits of mechanical and chemical recycling. [1] [2]
The second day asks how to pay for and expand circular production. It brings the technical questions into purchasing and investment decisions. If a recycler needs better sorting, a mill needs new testing, and a brand needs reliable volumes, who pays for those steps and who commits to buying the output? The Asian cases below show how the answer changes from factory offcuts to mixed waste and recovered polyester. [2]
Three numbers put the challenge in perspective
139 million tonnes of fibre produced globally in 2025 · 0.76% of global fibre output came from textile-to-textile recycling · 97% of recycled polyester came from plastic bottles.
139 million tonnes of fibre produced globally in 2025 · 0.76% of global fibre output came from textile-to-textile recycling · 97% of recycled polyester came from plastic bottles.
139 million tonnes of fibre produced globally in 2025 · 0.76% of global fibre output came from textile-to-textile recycling · 97% of recycled polyester came from plastic bottles.
These are Textile Exchange estimates for 2025. The 0.76% uses all fibre output as its denominator. The 97% refers only to recycled polyester. A rise in recycled polyester procurement can therefore say little about how much textile waste is returning to fibre production. [3]
What ZDHC can help a buyer check
ZDHC’s Roadmap to Zero Programme separates chemical inputs, how a facility manages its processes, and outputs such as wastewater. Its Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL) addresses chemical formulations used in manufacturing. A finished-product Restricted Substances List (RSL) serves a separate purpose. A buyer evaluating recycled yarn needs to match each piece of evidence to the relevant material, facility and intended use. [4] [5]
ZDHC launched MRSL Version 4.0 on 29 October. The update adds 16 substances and distinguishes intentional use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from unintentional contamination in chemical formulations. Its formulation limits should be read within that scope. For a batch of previously finished textiles, the practical question is which checks are warranted by its history and the use planned for the recovered material. [5]
Three separate records. Ask for the feedstock specification and lot history, the recycler’s process and discharge records where applicable, and product test evidence relevant to the intended use. Each record covers a different part of the chain.
Bangladesh: preserving information at the cutting table
In its 2024 review, Global Fashion Agenda reported that 36 facilities in the Circular Fashion Partnership had segregated more than 11,000 tonnes of textile waste. The programme digitally traced 5,000 tonnes to recyclers. Those figures describe different steps in the chain. To establish how much became saleable fibre, a buyer would also need the recycler’s input, output and rejection records. [6]
A separate 2026 to 2029 initiative from ZDHC and Agence Française de Développement aims to support at least 100 textile, apparel and leather facilities in Bangladesh. Its planned work covers chemical inventories, training, wastewater testing and corrective action. The target describes programme reach. Results will depend on baseline and follow-up evidence from participating facilities. [7]
Together, these cases show why the work starts before waste leaves the factory. A cutting room can keep known lots separate and record their composition. A wet processor can supply information on relevant finishes. For smaller suppliers, brands can help by agreeing on common data fields and covering the additional checks their purchasing specifications require.
India: making a sorted batch useful to a recycler
Fashion for Good’s 2022 Wealth in Waste study estimated that India generates about 7.8 million tonnes of textile waste annually. Its wider project identifies Panipat and Tirupur as major recycling hubs. The national estimate describes the scale of the waste stream. The quantity available for a particular yarn depends on sorting, contamination, fibre composition and the process a recycler can use. [8] [9]
Shahi Exports reported a trial in which it separated cotton waste and sent it to Usha Yarns for mechanical recycling. This is a useful comparison with a mixed batch of worn clothing. A known cotton stream gives the recycler a clearer starting specification. The buyer still needs evidence on fibre quality, intended blend and which finished-product checks apply. ZDHC’s Lisbon agenda lists Shahi’s Priya Palwe on a day-two panel about taking pilots into commercial production. [10] [2]
Taiwan: capacity is one part of the production story
Far Eastern New Century reports that it supplies mechanically recycled textiles to brand customers and that its chemical textile recycling system reached 5,000 tonnes of annual production capacity at the end of 2024. The company describes using automated sorting and in-house processing to recover polyester raw materials. The capacity figure is company-reported and describes potential annual production. [11]
For a sourcing team, the next questions are what feedstock the process accepts, how much it actually runs and what share of incoming material becomes saleable output. A comparison of mechanical and chemical routes should specify the input, output quality and intended application. It should also account for the relevant energy, water, chemical inputs and residues within the same reporting boundary.
Who pays for the checks?
Keeping a batch separate, gathering records and investigating a failed test take time. If a brand asks several suppliers for the same evidence in different formats, it adds work without improving the test itself. A shared specification can say which supplier records travel with each lot, when existing test evidence is acceptable and when fresh sampling is needed.
SUSFUTURE’s view is that buyers should pair recycling targets with practical purchase commitments. Agree acceptance criteria and who pays for testing before a trial. Track the weight received, rejected and converted into usable output. Give suppliers a route to correct a failed result and report what happened to material that could not enter the intended process. Those records give buyers a basis for deciding whether to place the next order.
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