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More than 73% of textiles worldwide are still landfilled or incinerated. Despite growing awareness of the environmental impact of fashion, post-consumer textile waste has remained largely outside mainstream investment and policy agendas. The Fibersort project set out to address that gap.
With Circle Economy as the lead partner, Fibersort focused on commercialising a new technology capable of sorting post-consumer textiles by fibre composition and colour—an essential prerequisite for fibre-to-fibre recycling. Supported by Interreg and delivered in collaboration with collectors, sorters, recyclers, and machine builders, the project aimed to answer a fundamental question: Can post-consumer textiles become a viable feedstock for recycling at scale?
Fibersort was the first large-scale investigation into post-consumer textile waste and its recyclability (2018). Circle Economy developed and implemented a new methodology across six European countries, combining data analysis with on-the-ground assessments at sorting facilities. These assessments examined textile composition, label accuracy, and recovery potential, creating an evidence base that had not previously existed. The findings clarified both opportunity and constraint. Fibersort quantified the maximum value that could be recovered from post-consumer textiles, while also identifying the technical and financial pain points that prevent circular textile systems from scaling. By translating material data into economic insights, the project provided investors with a realistic understanding of risk, return, and system bottlenecks.
These insights quickly informed policy and market discussions at the European level. Circle Economy presented findings to European Commission teams developing the EU Circular Textiles Strategy, spoke at DG GROW sessions and EU conferences, and engaged with EU Member States. The Joint Research Centre later commissioned similar studies for several Eastern European countries using Circle Economy’s methodology. To date, the Fibersort approach has been applied or replicated in ten EU countries.
Building on this foundation, the work extended beyond Europe. Inspired by EU research but adapted to different waste management contexts, Circle Economy expanded the methodology to the US—where challenges lie in fragmented collection systems and limited textile-specific infrastructure—and to India, where informal waste collection plays a central role and where monetising textile waste carries strong social implications.
Beyond direct project replication, Circle Economy’s data has been used in influential reports by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Systemiq on textile Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes and opportunities for polyester recycling, reinforcing its role as a reference point for circular textiles.
The business case developed through Fibersort proved particularly transformative in India. Before Fibersort, textile waste was not a priority for waste pickers. Plastic waste had a clear and established business case; textiles did not. Without a viable market signal, waste pickers could not extract value from collecting textiles. Fibersort changed this by demonstrating the technical and financial feasibility of post-consumer textile recovery.
Using Circle Economy’s research as a benchmark, Upaya Social Ventures invested in textile waste management infrastructure in India. Three Textile Recovery Facilities (TRFs) were established through impact-linked financing of US$250,000 per facility, unlocking a total of US$750,000 in capital. These investments directly resulted in the creation of 102 new formal jobs and increased income for existing waste collectors. As Shruti Goel, CEO of Upaya Social Ventures, observes, ‘Textile waste is out there. What surprised me the most is how the markets have not taken it on, and no one has reacted to this opportunity for years. This lack of financing is simply not a commercial way of thinking’.
Income effects were significant. New jobholders experienced an average income increase of 80%. Existing waste collectors experienced income increases of 20–25%, with further growth anticipated as processing capacity scales up over the coming years. Waste management companies supported through these investments expanded rapidly—from approximately 200 workers to over 9,000—most of them women from marginalised backgrounds. Beyond income, workers transitioned from informal rag picking to formal sanitation roles. They gained stable employment, uniforms, safer working conditions, and access to India’s ESIC social security schemes. This standardisation of work created new forms of agency and long-term security.
One example in particular illustrates this shift. An employee at a TRF was able to send her daughter to secondary education. Through ESIC employee certification, her daughter was able to access a reservation quota, which enabled her to take a medical entrance exam and pursue higher education. This individual story reflects the broader systemic change enabled by formalising textile waste work.
Fibersort’s impact continues beyond the original project, which concluded in 2020. Building on its foundations, project partners refined and improved the technology, while the business case continued to inform investment and infrastructure development. The work also generated broader ripple effects. In Amsterdam, it helped inspire the Right Fibre factory. Fashion brands, including H&M, expressed interest and commitment. Global impact investors are increasingly using Circle Economy’s insights to guide their investments in textile waste infrastructure, linking capital deployment to business performance, job quality, and volumes of waste diverted from landfills.
Throughout the project, Circle Economy played a central role as lead partner and knowledge architect. Beyond developing and implementing its methodology across Europe, Circle Economy expanded its work to India and the US, initiating follow-up studies on label accuracy and sorting for circularity. The organisation’s ability to translate technical complexity into policy- and investor-relevant insights proved critical. As Hilde van Duijn, Managing Director at Circle Economy, reflects, ‘Our impact stories often do not lie with the client but somewhere else. There are many parents to a successful story’.
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