Fashion
System-wide improvements could boost textile recycling rate: BCG
Reaching that level will require industry-wide changes, including expanding efforts to collect discarded textiles, adopting new technologies, increasing operational efficiency and boosting investments, it noted.
It will also require more companies to make and sell products created from recycled materials—and more people to buy them.
System-wide improvements could boost textile recycling rate with a raw material value of more than $50 billion, a Boston Consulting Group commentary said.
Reaching that level will require industry-wide changes, including expanding efforts to collect discarded textiles, adopting new tech, raising operational efficiency, boosting investments and making more companies sell recycled products, it noted.
In 2024, discarded clothing worldwide reached 120 million metric tonnes—a clear indication of how dramatically fashion consumption has changed. As a direct result of these trends, global fibre production has more than doubled since 2000, amplifying both consumption patterns and waste.
The increase in textile waste imposes significant economic and environmental burdens. In 2024, approximately 80 per cent of discarded clothing ended up in landfills or incinerators, while only 12 per cent was reused, and substantially less than 1 per cent was recycled into new textile fibres.
The environmental toll is particularly high, the commentary by Rohan Sajdeh, Catharina Martinez-Pardo, Alexander Meyer zum Felde, Tom Lange, Eleonora Tieri and Elian Evans observed.
Producing textiles accounts for 92 per cent of the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions. Disposal exacerbates such emissions. Open dumping adds another layer of risk, releasing harmful micro-plastics into the environment.
The authors expect demand for recycled textiles to exceed supply by 30 to 40 million metric tonnes by 2030.
Despite the growing momentum for change, the existing textile value chain includes many barriers to recovering and reusing more waste. Three, in particular, pose challenges to meaningful change, the authors said.
First, several factors often make recycled materials less desirable economically and practically than virgin fibres. While enthusiasm for recycled fibers is rising, concerns about quality, availability and integration into established supply chains can make them less appealing.
Moreover, the cost disparity is significant: recycled polyester can be more than twice as expensive as virgin polyester, and recycled cotton usually commands a higher price as well.
Second, today’s textile waste management infrastructure falls short. Current textile recycling systems simply weren’t designed for the immense volumes the world generates. Most collection channels primarily support resale markets, both charitable and commercial, rather than recycling initiatives.
Consequently, sorting processes rely heavily on manual labour that is optimised for resale rather than recycling. These manual processes cannot efficiently categorize textiles by recyclability, fabric composition, and colour, or effectively remove disruptors like buttons and zippers. Consumer confusion further complicates this already strained system.
Third, complex fabrics require innovating beyond current recycling capabilities. Most modern fabrics are made from blends of different fibre types. However, most existing industrial recycling solutions, which are primarily mechanical, can handle only single-material textiles.
This mismatch between waste and technology has led to an urgent need for innovative solutions that can handle a broad range of modern textile waste and deliver products that are competitive in cost and quality, the authors wrote. Such techniques have yet to reach the scale necessary to tackle current waste volumes.
To build a profitable system for all stakeholders, the industry should focus on five key actions designed to work across all of the barriers mentioned above: promote demand for textiles with recycled fibres; collect more waste; modernise sorting; scale effective recycling solutions; and invest in innovation, they said.
Success will also depend on creating meaningful economic incentives for businesses and consumers, and harnessing synergies across the value chain, the authors added.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Following earlier increases in purified terephthalic acid (PTA), melt and PSF, Indian producers have now raised PFY prices. POY, FDY and PTY prices have been increased by ****;* per kg across all deniers and lustres with effect from March *, reflecting rapid cost pass-through amid heightened volatility in crude-linked value chains, according to the market sources.
In the previous weekly revision effective February **, ****, PTA was increased by ****;*.** per kg to ****;**.** per kg, while monoethylene glycol (MEG) was retained at ****;**.** per kg. Polyester melt prices were raised by ****;*.** per kg to ****;**.** per kg. Downstream PSF prices were also revised upward by ****;*.** per kg from March *.
May 2026 cotton settled at 64.59 cents per pound, down 1.02 cents. This marked the lowest settlement price for May contract since February 20, effectively erasing all gains made over that period.
Cotton futures on Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) fell over 1 per cent, with May 2026 settling at 64.59 cents/lb, the lowest since Feb 20, amid Middle East tensions and a stronger US dollar.
Rising inventories and risk aversion pressured prices.
Speculators cut net shorts, while crude oil surged.
ICE cotton traded mixed in early Indian hours today.
Total trading volume for the session came in at 73,225 contracts. ICE-certified deliverable No. 2 cotton inventory rose to 126,178 bales as of February 26, up from 119,457 bales the previous trading day.
The US dollar climbed to its highest level in over a month, making dollar-denominated commodities like cotton more expensive for international buyers and reducing export demand.
Market analysts stated that the Middle East conflict is putting significant pressure on cotton and that a broader risk-aversion tone is affecting the market.
On March 2, Iran continued launching attacks on US military bases across multiple countries in the Middle East, with explosions reported in several locations. An advisor to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander announced that the Strait of Hormuz had been closed, with Iran threatening to strike any vessels attempting to pass through it.
US President Trump indicated that military action against Iran could last four to five weeks, while also expressing readiness for operations to extend considerably longer.
Major Wall Street indices declined on Monday as the conflict raised fears of disrupted global trade routes and renewed inflationary pressures. Analysts warned that investors appear to be rebuilding short positions in cotton, suggesting continued downward price pressure in the near term. The earlier May contract low of 62.86 cents per pound as a key support level that could be tested again.
CFTC data released the prior Friday showed that speculators reduced their net short positions in ICE cotton futures and options by 26,508 contracts in the week ending February 24, bringing net shorts to 48,922 contracts.
International crude oil and natural gas prices surged sharply on Monday following US and Israeli strikes on Iran, with retaliatory actions forcing the closure of several energy facilities in the region.
This morning (Indian Standard Time), ICE cotton for May 2026 was traded at 64.75 cents per pound (up 0.16 cent), cash cotton at 62.59 cents (down 1.02 cent), the March 2026 contract at 62.59 cents ((down 1.02 cent)), the July 2026 contract at 66.75 cents (up 0.14 cent), the October 2026 contract at 68.18 cents (down 0.49 cent) and the December 2026 at 69.04 cents (up 0.12 cent). A few contracts remained at their previous closing levels, with no trading recorded so far today.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
If the US administration imposes a 15-per cent levy, the US ETR would rise to 11.3 per cent.
President Donald Trump reinstated tariffs immediately following the US Supreme Court’s February 20 ruling that invalidated the reciprocal tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The new blanket 10-per cent tariff rate is authorised under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 and expires in 150 days unless extended by Congress.
The 10-per cent blanket reciprocal tariff imposed by the US on most trading partners has reduced the US effective tariff rate (ETR) to 9.4 per cent from 12.7 per cent, Fitch Ratings said.
If a 15-per cent levy is imposed, the ETR would rise to 11.3 per cent.
China has the highest ETR among trading partners, followed by Vietnam, Japan and Brazil.
China’s ETR is around 19 per cent from 29 per cent earlier.
Section 122 permits a maximum rate of 15 per cent but does not allow for tariff adjustments for individual countries.
Prior to the court decision, China was subject to two reciprocal tariffs: a fentanyl tariff of 10 per cent that applied to all imports and a 10-per cent reciprocal tariff on an import base subject to carveouts. The two tariffs have been consolidated into the 10-per cent blanket tariff, reducing China’s ETR to around 19 per cent from 29 per cent, Fitch said in a release.
China still has the highest ETR among major trading partners, followed by Vietnam, Japan and Brazil. Of the United States’ 31 largest trading partners, 26 will see their ETRs decline. Brazil benefits the most, with its ETR decreasing by 18 percentage points (pp) to 11 per cent from 29 per cent.
ETRs for most countries largely remain unchanged following the switch in tariff regimes, and no country will see an increase in its ETR if the Section 122 tariff rate remains at 10 per cent.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
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