Circular fashion: textile collection & sorting

01Overview and value chain

Markers: [EC: EU Strategy for Sustainable & Circular Textiles & EPR schemes | OECD: Circular bioeconomy | Regulator: REACH (EU), EPA (USA), MARA (China)]

Circular fashion is the infrastructure layer that closes the textile loop: collecting post-consumer clothing, sorting it automatically by fiber, and recycling it back into new fibers. Europe generates more than 12 million tonnes of textile waste a year, yet under one percent is recycled into new fiber — the gap the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles and national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes now force the industry to close. The stack has three layers: automated sorting (Tomra, Refiberd hyperspectral AI), mechanical and chemical fiber-to-fiber recycling (Renewcell’s Circulose cotton pulp, Infinited Fiber’s Infinna), and polycotton separation (Circ’s hydrothermal process, Worn Again). The field is also commercially honest: Renewcell entered restructuring in late 2023 after its 60,000-tonne Sundsvall Circulose plant struggled with offtake, and is restarting under new ownership as brand partners sign on — a clear signal that the technology works but the offtake economics are still maturing.

The key directions of circular fashion are:

1. Automated textile sorting (Automated Textile Sorting): hyperspectral and AI sorting that classifies post-consumer garments by fiber composition at industrial throughput — Tomra Textiles Autosort, Refiberd Fiberhook.
2. Mechanical cotton recycling (Mechanical Cotton Recycling): chemically pulping cotton waste into a dissolving-pulp feedstock for virgin-grade viscose and lyocell — Renewcell Circulose.
3. Cellulose-carbon fiber regeneration (Cellulose Regeneration): turning cellulose-rich textile waste into regenerated fiber (Infinited Fiber Infinna, carbamate process).
4. Polycotton separation (Polycotton Separation): hydrothermal or solvent processes that separate the polyester from the cotton in blended fabrics so each stream can be recycled — Circ, Worn Again Technologies.

Sectoral value chain

[garment collection] ──> [automated sorting by fiber] ──> [mechanical / chemical recycling] ──> [regenerated fiber]
                                             │
                                  (EPR + EU Circular Textiles)
                                             │
                                             ▼
[new garment] <─── [spinning + textile making] <─────┘

Value chain levels

Cross-cutting technologies of the sector:

• Hyperspectral and AI sorting (Hyperspectral/AI Sorting): near-infrared and hyperspectral cameras plus ML that identify garment fiber composition on a conveyor at one item per second.
• EPR and digital product passports (EPR & Passports): extended-producer-responsibility fees and the EU digital product passport that fund collection and trace fiber origin.
• Fiber-to-fiber process chemistry (Fiber-to-Fiber Chemistry): dissolving-pulp, carbamate and hydrothermal chemistries that return waste fibers to virgin-grade feedstock.

02US

The United States is building a textile-recycling base driven by emerging state EPR laws and AI-sorting start-ups, with capital flowing into both sorting and chemical recycling.

AI sorting, polycotton chemical recycling, EPR drivers

• Refiberd: an AI textile-sorting company whose Fiberhook platform uses hyperspectral imaging to classify post-consumer textiles by fiber at commercial throughput as US textile recycling matures alongside EPR.
• Circ: a polycotton hydrothermal recycling company building a roughly 500-million-dollar facility in France to scale its polyester-from-polycotton process with fashion-brand offtake.
• EPR emergence: emerging US state extended-producer-responsibility schemes are creating the feedstock and funding that automated sorting and recycling plants need to scale.

03CN

China is the world’s largest textile manufacturer and a growing recycler, integrating mechanical and chemical recycling into its domestic fiber supply.

domestic rPET fiber, manufacturer-led recycling, scale

• Domestic rPET fiber: China is the largest producer of recycled-polyester (rPET) fiber from bottle and textile feedstock, integrated into the world’s biggest textile manufacturing base.
• Manufacturer-led recycling: large Chinese fiber and chemical-fiber producers integrate recycled-content lines, driven by brand sustainability commitments and domestic policy.
• Collection infrastructure: formalised textile recycling chains are expanding under national circular-economy policy, though collection rates still trail the European EPR-driven model.

04EU

Europe authored the circular-fashion policy framework (EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, EPR, digital product passport) and hosts the densest cluster of fibre-to-fibre recyclers.

Circulose (Renewcell), Infinna (Infinited Fiber), Tomra sorting

• Renewcell (Sweden): the Circulose dissolving-pulp process turns cotton waste into virgin-grade feedstock; after the 60,000-tonne Sundsvall plant entered restructuring in 2023, the plant is restarting under new ownership as brand partners sign offtake.
• Infinited Fiber Company (Finland): the Infinna regenerated-fiber process turns cellulose-rich textile (and agricultural) waste into a cotton-like fiber used by global fashion brands.
• Tomra Textiles (Norway): automated hyperspectral sorting systems that classify post-consumer garments by fiber composition at industrial throughput, the entry point of the whole recycling chain.
• Worn Again Technologies (United Kingdom): the Accelerator polycotton separation process recycles polyester-cellulose blends into both polyester and cellulose outputs.

05Leading companies and research institutes

06Tech stack and innovations

The circular-fashion stack rests on sensing, separation chemistry and offtake economics, each layer hardened by a decade of pilot-scale learning.

1. Hyperspectral/AI sorting (Hyperspectral/AI Sorting):
   • near-infrared and hyperspectral cameras classify each garment’s fiber composition in milliseconds on a conveyor, enabling one-item-per-second industrial sorting.
   • the sorted fractions (cotton, polyester, polycotton, wool) then route to the matching recycling process.
2. Mechanical cotton-to-pulp recycling (Mechanical Cotton Recycling):
   • cotton waste is chemically pulped into dissolving pulp (Circulose) that feeds virgin-grade viscose and lyocell spinning.
   • Renewcell’s 60,000-tonne Sundsvall plant is the scale reference, now restarting under new ownership.
3. Polycotton hydrothermal separation (Polycotton Separation):
   • hydrothermal or solvent processes selectively dissolve the polyester from polycotton blends, leaving a clean cellulose stream so both components recycle.
   • Circ’s process underpins its roughly 500-million-dollar France facility with brand offtake.

07Value chains and production pipelines

Industrial pipeline of a circular textile (EU Circular Textiles / EPR)

┌───────────────────────────┐      ┌───────────────────────────┐
│ 1. Garment collection     │ ───> │ 2. Automated fiber sorting│
└───────────────────────────┘      └───────────────────────────┘
                                                  │
                                                  ▼
┌───────────────────────────┐      ┌───────────────────────────┐
│ 4. Regenerated fiber      │ <─── │ 3. Mechanical/chemical rec.│
└───────────────────────────┘      └───────────────────────────┘
              │
              ▼
┌───────────────────────────┐      ┌───────────────────────────┐
│ 5. Textile & garment make │ ───> │ 6. Circulate / resale     │
└───────────────────────────┘      └───────────────────────────┘

Stage 1: Garment collection

Post-consumer garments are gathered through curbside collection, retail take-back and charity bins, with the EU EPR scheme and digital product passport funding and tracing the flow.

Stage 2: Automated fiber sorting

Garments pass over hyperspectral conveyors (Tomra, Refiberd) that classify each item by fiber composition in milliseconds, producing clean cotton, polyester, polycotton and wool fractions.

Stage 3: Mechanical or chemical recycling

Cotton fractions are pulped into dissolving pulp (Circulose); polycotton fractions are hydrothermally separated (Circ, Worn Again); cellulose-rich streams are regenerated (Infinna).

Stage 4: Regenerated fiber

The recycled feedstock is spun into new virgin-grade fiber — Circulose-fed viscose/lyocell, Infinna, or recycled polyester — meeting brand specs at high recycled content.

Stage 5: Textile and garment manufacture

Recycled fibers are blended, spun, knitted or woven and sewn into new garments carrying recycled-content labelling under the EU digital product passport.

Stage 6: Circulate and resale

The new garment re-enters the use cycle, with repair, resale and eventual re-collection closing the loop; EPR fees fund each collection-and-sorting cycle so the loop can repeat.