Story by Sarah Dean, fall 2025 Sustainable Carolina intern
Textiles are a fundamental part of our everyday lives – think about the clothes you wear, the bath towels you use, and the rug beneath your feet.
Just 30 minutes outside of Florence, Italy, is Prato, the country’s textile recycling and circular economy capital. The Prato textile district processes over 100 million kilograms of pre-consumer and post-consumer waste each year!
At the heart of Prato lies Manteco, a family-owned textile recycling business, which has been operational since 1943. The company recycles wool and is known for their high-quality products, sustainability and commitment to building a circular economy.
Why recycle clothes?
In 2022, textiles were the 7th most globally traded product, with a total traded value at $941B, according to the OEC. In total, around 430 million people work in the textile sector. Considering the 3.5 billion people in the global workforce, textile workers account for 12.3% of the world’s working population.
The textile industry relies on 98 million tons of non-renewable resources per year, says the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. These resources include oil for synthetic fiber production, fertilizer and water to grow cotton, chemicals for dyeing and finishing processes, and more. In total, the industry is responsible for up to 8% of global carbon emissions.
Globally, a garbage truck ‘s worth of textiles and apparel are burnt or buried in landfills every second.
When sent to landfills, textiles have drastic environmental and human health consequences. The National Institute of Health has linked exposure to landfills with increased mortality from lung cancer and respiratory diseases.
A 2007 study based in North Carolina found prevalence odds of solid waste facility was 2.8 times more likely in a census block with ≥50% people of color compared to census blocks with < 10% people of color. This makes landfills an urgent environmental justice issue, as communities of color are disproportionately at risk of environmental hazards from heavy pollution.
“The problem is that we’re pushed to create and create, to make new things constantly and we don’t create well-designed life cycles – products that are designed to be recycled.” Mattia Trovato, Head of Communications and Sustainability Expert, Manteco
Closing the Loop
Innovation is needed to address the urgent environmental and social impacts of our dysfunctional textile system.
Our current textile system follows a linear model of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and discarding. As more and more textiles are produced, this puts extreme and expanding pressure on natural resources while degrading the environment.
A circular economy, on the other hand, seeks to close the loop of the linear model. A circular economy utilizes waste as a raw materials input – waste is recaptured as a resource. This model also strives to reduce material use, redesign resource-intensive production processes, and encourage reuse and repair of textiles.
“To me the circular economy is a well explained vision of sustainability in a way. It enables us to avoid pollution and keep materials in a cycle.” Mattia Trovato
The goal of a circular economy for fashion is to make the industry restorative and regenerative by design. Closing the loop for fashion will reduce the need for new raw materials, water, harmful chemicals and plastics. It will also extend product lifespans and open new markets for upcycling and garment repair. This model provides environmental, social and economic benefits.
To close the loop for fashion, we must build infrastructure to repurpose, recycle and reuse textiles. Textile recycling will be the most intensive of these three paths.
Textile recycling is the process of recovering fabric, yarn or fibers to make new products. The steps of textile recycling include collection, sorting by color and fiber type, cleaning, shredding and cutting, reprocessing, and finally – spinning new yarn!
Innovating the Recycling Process
Textile recycling is a promising innovation to create a more sustainable textile industry, reducing the environmental and social impacts of our current model.
Despite its potential, the practice of textile recycling hasn’t become commonplace for a few reasons:
- Fabric sorting must currently be done by hand with consideration for fiber type, color, and embellishments such as zippers, buttons, etc.
- Collected waste has been made with different dyes, finishes and chemicals – creating heterogeneous material inputs.
- The quality of recycled materials is lower than virgin materials, meaning recycled fibers often need to be mixed with virgin materials to make the product viable for market.
Exemplifying a Circular Economy
In 2023, Manteco processed over 1.3 million kilograms of wool, which would have otherwise been landfilled, and saved over 195,000 tons of CO2 from being emitted. That same year, the company won won Textile Exchange’s Climate Project of the Year award. This prestigious award recognized Manteco’s commitment to decreasing the environmental impact of textile production. The company has championed science-based assessments, academic publications and textile recycling industry certifications.
Manteco not only utilizes 100% recycled wool in production, but they also design their ReviWool® and MWool® products to be fully recyclable. Compared to virgin wool tops and generic virgin wool, Manteco’s products generate 65.6% and 99.2% fewer CO2 emissions, respectively, outlines their sustainability report. Compared to generic wool fibers, MWool® uses 99.9% less on water and 93.3% less energy during production.
Manteco clearly exemplifies how a circular economy model can significantly lower carbon emissions, water use and energy use. Compared to our current linear model, the circular model offers solutions to our current industry problems.
Learn more about their sustainable solutions at manteco.com.