Every year, millions of tons of textiles end up in landfills or incinerators — from fast fashion clothing to old sheets, towels, and upholstery. Textile recycling offers a way to keep fabrics in use longer, reduce waste, and cut down on fashion’s massive environmental footprint.

This guide will show you what counts as textiles, where to take them, and the easiest ways to recycle or reuse fabric at home.

What counts as textiles?

Essentially, anything that is made from fabric is considered a textile.

• Clothing
• Bedding
• Pillows
• Towels
• Drapes & Curtains
• Furniture upholstery
• Fabric scraps

Where to recycle textiles

Reserve textile recycling for clothing and other items that are ripped, torn, stained, or otherwise unusable. Otherwise, be sure to donate to homeless shelters, thrift shops,

Drop-off locations

It can be really difficult to find local drop-offs for textile recycling. Some places that you can try include:

• H&M accepts old clothing in stores, and in return, you will receive a coupon for future purchases. However, they have come under fire for allegedly not actually recycling the materials they collect.
• Savers is a toss-up: I was told that labeling donations as ‘scraps’ will be recycled. I have not been able to verify whether this is actually true.
• Goodwill stores may recycle unusable items; check with a store near you.
• Helpsy is a Certified B Corp that operates clothing donation & recycling bins the northeastern U.S.

Online textile recycling programs

Since in-person drop-off recycling is rare, online textile recycling programs are a convenient, albeit often expensive, alternative.

Terracycle’s Fabric & Clothing Zero Waste Box can be filled with any textile or fabric-based product, and shipped with a pre-paid shipping label. However, this is not cheap–prices start at $149. There are also various free programs available through Terracycle, the best of which is Carter’s + Terracycle, which accepts any brand of baby and children’s clothing, Goldtoe Socks, and Parade for underwear.

Other online options include:

• Recycle worn out denim with Zappos for Good + Blue Jeans Go Green program.
• Retold Recycling offers a one-time bag purchase starting at $14.50 or an annual subscription; you fill up the bag with your unwanted textiles and ship it with the prepaid shipping label. At Retold, textiles are sorted and, depending on the condition, are distributed to thrift stores, donation centers, recyclers, resellers, and up-cyclers.
• Supercircle works with many individual companies on recycling solutions. One such program is Thousand Fell’s Trade In by TF, which accepts any type of textiles, as well as shoes, for recycling. Create an account and receive a pre-paid shipping label to ship your well-worn goods. Once received, they give you points towards future purchases.
• Trashie sells a postage-paid take-back bag for $20 that will hold approximately 15 pounds of not only clothing, but also coats, hats and other accessories, shoes, bags, sheets, and towels. And for sending in your recycling, you earn rewards that can be redeemed with a variety of brands.

Brand-specific clothing recycling

Many clothing companies offer recycling programs for their own brand. As a reward for recycling, most programs reward with points or discounts on future purchases. Check with your favorite brands; below is a list of popular companies that offer recycling.

• Patagonia – Send in your unwanted things, and if it is in good condition they can resell, you can receive up to 50% of the resale price through credit. If not sellable, Patagonia will recycle your gear so it stays out of the landfill.
• North Face – Recycle apparel and footwear at their stores and outlets and earn a $10 reward toward your next purchase of $100 or more.
• H&M – Accepts old clothing in stores and in return you will receive a coupon for future purchases. Depending on the clothing condition, it will be used as secondhand clothing, repurposed into other products, or recycled by being shredded into textile fibers and used to make other materials.
• For Days – Order a Take Back Bag to fill with old clothes (any brand/condition) and earn 20% off your next purchase of their sustainably-sourced clothing.
• Marine Layer – Their Re-Spun t-shirt recycling program gives you a $5 credit per tee.
• Madewell – Drop off any brand of jeans in exchange for $20 off a new pair.
• Levi’s SecondHand trade-in program – Allows you to bring in old denim and receive a gift card in return.
• American Eagle – Donate old jeans for 20% off a new pair.
• PacSun – Donate old jeans for $10 off a new pair.
• Check BlueJeansGoGreen for more retailers offering trade-in discounts; some are for specific date ranges only.

Socks & underwear

• Knickey will take women’s, men’s, and kid’s ready-to-trash undies, bras, socks, and tights to recycle and give you 15% off your next purchase.
• Hanky Panky will take your unwanted underwear, bras, and socks for recycling and give you $10 towards your next purchase.
• Parade has a free program with Terracycle (CURRENTLY ON HOLD). They send you a mailer and you return it with your old underwear (any brand). Then will give you 30% off your next purchase.
• Bombas offers a take back bag for $10 that you can fill with old underwear and socks from any brand. In return you receive a $10 credit back.
• SmartWool’s Second Cut Project has a couple different options for sock recycling: you can pack and ship your clean, old socks to them (any brand) at your cost, or when you make a purchase on their site, there will be an option to ‘add a bag’ to your cart for no cost, and they will send you a bag with a pre-paid shipping label for your old socks. In April, you can drop-off at designated retailers, check here for locations.

What happens to recycled textiles

As it turns out, only 1% of ‘recycled’ clothing is actually turned into new material. Most is downcycled into other, less valuable applications. This can be as simple as rags, or insulation, carpet underlay, or furniture/mattress filling.

Tips for reducing textile waste

Like reducing any waste stream, reducing textile waste starts with decreasing consumption. Approximately 15-20% of people purchase clothing that is never worn.

• Buy fewer, better-quality items.
• Donate items in good condition; I like Buy Nothing or Freecycle. I have come to really like this option for donating items because I know they’re going to actual people who want them, rather than being thrown away or shipped overseas.
• Sell at a local consignment store or a website such as thredUP or Poshmark.
• Find a good tailor for alterations as needed.
• Repair, patch, reattach buttons, etc.
• Repurpose – use old t-shirts for cleaning rags, make a pet bed or a shopping bag…there are thousands of clothing upcycling ideas online.
• Choose natural fabrics when possible.

Final thoughts on textile recycling

Unfortunately, textile recycling is somewhat limited, making it inconvenient and/or expensive. The best practices to minimize the need are to donate clothing and other textiles that are still usable, purchase less, repair when able, and seek natural, compostable fabrics as much as possible.

Get started with sustainable clothing brands and home textiles.