What is textile waste?

Textile waste is just one name to describe a category of materials.

Textiles come in many forms. Fabric, clothing, carpeting, bedding, mattresses, or curtains are just a few. But the category also includes things like masks, some wet wipes, agricultural mulch coverings, or even boat sails.

All of these materials, when they are no longer useful in their intended format, can be considered waste. Sometimes, waste comes even before a final product is made, such as the clippings and fabric cuttings left over from making clothing, or a test run of fabric that was used to calibrate a knitting machine.

Textile waste also goes by other names.

• End of life clothing

• Spent textiles

• Fabric waste

In addition, the waste can be categories by what stage of manufacturing it is in.

• Post-industrial - waste that is generated in the industrial process of making things, like clippings from a clothing cut-and-sew factory

• Pre-consumer - products that were completed, but never made it to a consumer. This category often includes unsold inventory, or returns.

• Post-consumer - this is clothing or products that have been worn or used by end users and then discarded because they no longer served a purpose.