Accelerating Circularity Maps Hidden Obstacles to True Textile-to-Textile Recycling

Accelerating Circularity has unveiled a white paper revealing how trims, adhesives, and labels block progress in textile-to-textile recycling. The Toward Circular Systems for Trims and Ignored Materials (CSTIM) report examines overlooked components that disrupt fibre recovery, outlining solutions for scalable sorting, preprocessing, and design-for-disassembly—calling brands, recyclers, and manufacturers to align on standards for genuine circular systems.

Long Story, Cut Short
  • The new CSTIM white paper identifies trims, adhesives, and labels as critical barriers to efficient textile-to-textile recycling, often disrupting fibre recovery and contaminating circular feedstocks.
  • Accelerating Circularity calls for collaboration among brands, recyclers, and materials experts to design trims compatible with recycling processes and scalable preprocessing systems for mixed-material garments.
  • The report proposes clear, practical recommendations for sorting automation, feedstock standardisation, and joint investment that could unlock large-scale circularity across global apparel supply chains.
Manual and automated sorting operations remain at the core of textile circularity, where even minor impurities or trims can determine whether a garment becomes recyclable or rejected.
Towards Yarn Manual and automated sorting operations remain at the core of textile circularity, where even minor impurities or trims can determine whether a garment becomes recyclable or rejected. AI-Generated / Freepik

Trims and labels—the smallest parts of garments—are proving the biggest barriers to circular fashion. Accelerating Circularity’s new CSTIM report reveals how adhesives, fasteners, and finishing materials obstruct fibre recovery and recycling compatibility. By mapping technical and operational bottlenecks, the study urges the industry to align design, sorting, and recycling standards to achieve genuinely closed-loop textile systems.

  • The CSTIM Working Group examined how trims and “ignored materials” complicate textile-to-textile recycling and outlined potential design solutions for scalable material recovery.
  • Case studies from Homeboy Threads, Looptworks, and Valvan highlight emerging preprocessing and automation strategies to reduce labour costs and improve feedstock quality.
  • The report concludes with detailed recommendations and a call to action for brands, recyclers, and policymakers to collaborate on unified circular standards.
  • Released on 20 October, Toward Circular Systems for Trims and Ignored Materials (CSTIM) is a white paper developed by Accelerating Circularity’s multi-stakeholder CSTIM Working Group.

THE STUDY: The white paper explores how non-fabric components hinder textile-to-textile recycling. Convened in 2023, its multi-stakeholder working group mapped the material composition of trims, examined scalable retrieval methods, and developed recommendations linking design compatibility with circular systems. The study aims to align brands, sorters, and recyclers on feedstock standards and digital traceability for a functional closed-loop textile economy.

  • The CSTIM Working Group included specialists in materials science, finishing technologies, and recycling innovation from across the value chain.
  • Its research combined site visits to sorting and processing plants with stakeholder interviews covering brand, collector, and recycler operations.
  • Objectives spanned trim retrieval scalability, reuse potential, EPR alignment, and data-sharing frameworks for digital product passports.
  • Findings highlight the need for harmonised feedstock definitions and standards to reduce costs and improve system interoperability.

EVIDENCE ON THE TABLE: Trims, finishes, and other ignored materials disrupt textile-to-textile recycling by complicating fibre identification and contaminating feedstocks. Among 92 trims catalogued, only 29 were flagged as potentially recyclable—usually when sharing composition with target fibres. Yet without harmonised digital product passports or common recycler specifications, these theoretical gains remain impractical. Sorting facilities still default to removing all trims, sacrificing yield and recyclability efficiency.

  • Polyester threads, coatings, and labels frequently alter fibre purity, forcing sorters to disqualify garments that would otherwise meet recycler specifications for mechanical or chemical recovery.
  • Most preprocessing systems prioritise contamination avoidance, removing every non-fabric component regardless of recyclability potential—leading to increased fibre loss and higher operational costs.
  • Inconsistent recycler specifications prevent sorters from standardising feedstock preparation, resulting in fragmented supply, duplicated effort, and limited material interoperability across recycling facilities.
  • Recyclers demand precise fibre compositions and contamination thresholds that sorters cannot uniformly deliver, creating systemic inefficiencies and discouraging large-scale investment in preprocessing technology.

MODELS THAT WORK: Case studies from the CSTIM report illustrate how manual sorting and automated preprocessing can complement each other in scaling textile-to-textile recycling. Homeboy Threads and Looptworks combine social enterprise models with commercial operations, while Valvan supplies automation technology that links sorting accuracy with feedstock consistency. Together, they demonstrated how decentralised infrastructure and incremental innovation can build regional circular systems without losing quality or traceability.

  • Homeboy Threads integrates training and re-entry employment with sorting and preprocessing for major apparel brands, creating traceable, socially driven feedstock hubs across Southern California.
  • Looptworks applies modular mechanical recycling to convert pre- and post-consumer textiles into fibre, advocating localised circular hubs to reduce logistics and contamination.
  • Valvan’s Fibersort and TrimClean technologies use AI and near-infrared detection to identify fibre types and remove trims, improving throughput and contaminant control for recyclers.
  • Each model underscores the need for stable feedstock demand, shared quality standards, and co-investment between brands, recyclers, and technology providers to reach commercial scale.

WIDER SYSTEM LINKS: Automation promises efficiency, but circular textile systems still rely on coordinated standards and shared investment. CSTIM findings show that while automated sortation, robotics, and AI can improve throughput, they remain constrained by the absence of uniform input specifications. Without alignment between brands, recyclers, and policymakers, even the most advanced equipment delivers inconsistent feedstocks—highlighting the need for collaboration, not just technology, to achieve circularity at scale.

  • Technology developers cite demand signals and co-investment from brands as prerequisites for scaling automation that meets recycler specifications.
  • Sorting innovations like Valvan’s systems reveal that efficiency rises only when feedstock purity requirements are clearly defined and consistently applied.
  • Recyclers continue depending on pre-consumer waste due to insufficient post-consumer sorting infrastructure and quality assurance capacity.
  • Harmonised standards could allow automation to aggregate volume, reduce rejection rates, and accelerate adoption of circular manufacturing practices.

THE RECOMMENDATIONS: The paper has made the following recommendations to advance circular textile systems and improve the integration of trims and ignored materials into scalable recycling pathways:

  • For Sorters: Invest in AI-driven sortation and dual resale–recycling logistics to increase throughput, reduce labour intensity, and deliver consistent, fibre-specific outputs at scale.
  • For Recyclers: Align material specifications with upstream realities, clarify contamination thresholds, and participate in shared feedstock mapping to harmonise expectations across the value chain.
  • For Technology Providers: Develop configurable systems that enable user-defined contaminant detection, precise material sorting, and seamless integration with digital traceability solutions.
  • For Brands: Simplify trims and labels, standardise fibre blends, and co-design feedstock trials with recyclers to enhance compatibility and stability across collection and preprocessing systems.
  • For Policymakers and Funders: Support pilot infrastructure, fund preprocessing innovation, and establish shared quality benchmarks and EPR incentives to bridge the gap between proof of concept and commercial scale.

CALL TO ACTION: The paper concludes with a call for unified action across the textile value chain, emphasising collaboration, standardisation, and shared investment to convert findings into measurable circular outcomes:

  • Collaborate Across Sectors: Brands, recyclers, and policymakers must jointly develop and test feedstock standards that accelerate adoption of circular design and sorting protocols.
  • Pilot and Scale: Stakeholders should co-fund pilot facilities and regional recovery hubs to validate new preprocessing technologies and ensure consistent post-consumer material flows.
  • Adopt Digital Product Passports: Integrate DPPs with accurate trim and fibre data to enable high-speed automated sorting and quality tracking across supply chains.
  • Advance Regulatory Alignment: Use upcoming legislation such as the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and California’s SB707 to harmonise circular design requirements globally.
  • Engage in CSTIM’s Next Phase: Participants are encouraged to contribute to upcoming pilot projects and standards development sessions under Accelerating Circularity’s CSTIM initiative.
Toward Circular Systems for Trims and Ignored Materials
Toward Circular Systems for Trims and Ignored Materials
Challenges and Opportunities
  • Authored by:

    CSTIM Working Group

  • Publisher: Accelerating Circularity
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  • Dated posted: 21 October 2025
  • Last modified: 21 October 2025