The 5 Most Common Myths About Textile Recycling

Myth 1

Everything that is recycled is also recyclable

It is often assumed that a product made from recycled material is automatically circular. In reality, “recycled” and “recyclable” are two different concepts.

A garment can be made with regenerated fibres but still contain treatments, prints, coatings, or hybrid compositions that make it no longer recyclable at the end of its life cycle. This is the case, for example, with many blended fabrics (cotton/polyester/elastane) or those with chemical finishes.
In short: being recycled once does not mean it can be recycled again.

Myth 2

Used garments become new garments

One of the most common narratives is that an old garment can simply be “reborn” as a new one. But the real process is very different — and much more limited.

Today, most used clothes are not transformed into new garments, but instead:

• end up in landfills or incinerators;
• are exported to developing countries (where they often become waste);
• or undergo downcycling processes, becoming padding or insulation.

Regeneration into new, high-quality fibres is still an expensive, technologically complex, and not very widespread practice within fashion sustainability.
“Closed-loop” recycling is still the exception, not the rule.

Myth 3

Separate collection is enough

Collection is only the beginning. And often it is not even done properly.

Even when clothes are separated from the rest of the waste, the path towards recycling is full of obstacles:

• there is a lack of specialised sorting facilities;
• garments have to be sorted by hand, one by one, to understand what is truly recyclable: this means long processing times and high costs;
• items are often not labelled correctly or are too damaged;
• blended fibres require separate processes that today are not automated on a large scale.

Dropping off a bag of used clothes at a collection point is by no means a guarantee that those garments will have a second life.

Myth 4

“Eco” labels guarantee sustainability

“Eco-friendly”, “Green”, “Conscious”, “Responsible”: these words appear more and more often on clothing labels.
But there is no real control over the use of these terms, which can be used freely even without proving anything.

Many “green” campaigns are based on micro-interventions (using a small percentage of recycled material, a symbolic reduction in CO₂, lighter packaging), without changing the production model.

What is missing is transparency, traceability, and verifiability. And as long as greenwashing is cheaper than authentic sustainability, it will be hard to move beyond it.

Myth 5

Recycling is the solution to the textile problem

Recycling is important, but it is not the definitive solution.
If we continue to produce, consume, and discard at an ever-accelerating pace, no recycling system will ever be able to keep up.

Real change depends on:

• design for circularity (Design for Circularity);
• durability of garments;
• industrial and logistics infrastructures that truly work;
• and above all: less superfluous production and more systemic responsibility.

Thinking that recycling alone can solve the problem is like trying to empty the desert with a spoon.