Goodwill Industries launches two million dollar textile recycling project at first sustainability summit

We are quickly entering the age of regulation. And as we arrive at this next destination, it's imperative that we do so well prepared and with tangible next steps to ensure effective execution. That was the mindset of those who took part in last week’s two-day Goodwill Sustainability Summit, at least, where both private and nonprofit industry leaders, recyclers and researchers came together to discuss what exactly needs to happen in order to arrive at a regulated and sustainable future together.

Taking place for the first time from August 15 to 16 and held in Washington, DC, the conference was sponsored by Goodwill Industries and a number of the nonprofit’s regional subsidiaries and included the involvement of notable industry figures, such as former Patagonia exec, Rick Ridgeway. The event therefore provided Goodwill with a platform to share the findings of a textile circularity pilot project that it has run for two years. The 1.28 million dollar initiative, funded by the Walmart Foundation and initiated by Goodwill Industries International (GII), set out to develop skills, systems and infrastructure to aggregate, sort and prepare textiles for reuse and recycling across the Goodwill network.

“Goodwill is working with multiple partners across the textile circularity ecosystem to advance solutions for textiles that are traceable, circular and scalable,” said GII president and CEO, Steve Preston, in an interview on the project with FashionUnited. “Global textile waste is a multi-stakeholder issue and requires brands, retailers, policymakers and technology innovators to work together to close the loop on textile circularity and preserve the enormous economic and social value that resold goods provide.”

Four regional textile hubs help determine resellable and feedstock textiles

The pilot, launched mid-2022, involved the creation of four regional textile hubs in Canada, Michigan, the Northeast and the Southeast of the US, representing 25 local Goodwill organisations. Each location sorted and graded post-retail textiles to identify reusable materials that could be resold and non-reusable textiles that would instead be used to create feedstock to meet recycler specifications. Part of the research involved analysing the fibre composition of post-retail textiles, for which GII learned that approximately 60 percent of the material was found to be suitable for existing recycling technologies. “This finding reinforces Goodwill’s position as a key player and feedstock supplier in the emerging textile recycling ecosystem,” Preston noted.

“Global textile waste is a multi-stakeholder issue,”

These findings will play into a newly launched two million dollar project, also unveiled at the summit and again backed by the Walmart Foundation, which this time takes the form of a multi-stakeholder initiative following the global journey of secondhand textiles. Expanding on the prior study, the newest initiative hopes to inform reuse and recycling strategies to help shape industry standards for traceability and product lifestyle stewardship. It will play into GII’s wider mission of increasing waste diversion, improving accountability and transparency and maximising the value of donations.

This highlights the extent of what must be achieved in order to get to move closer to an impactful end goal, a weighted challenge that does not go unnoticed by GII’s Preston: “In the US, many more systems need to be developed to fully power the circular economy – which includes sorting facilities, recycling infrastructure, and technology. At present, many technologies are in development; some are able to be moved to scale. Once they are available, facilities will need to be built and a new ecosystem of suppliers of goods and buyers of products will need to be established.”

Preston continued: “As a society and an industry, we need greater visibility/transparency into the global journey of secondhand textiles, increased use of textiles made of recycled materials by brands, and greater efforts to address the overproduction and overconsumption of garments made of cheap materials. When materials are not designed to last, it is difficult to keep them in circulation and challenging to recycle them.”

Goodwill efforts expand into regulation advice and building networks

With this in mind, Goodwill’s sizable network – the 120 year-old organisation operates over 3,300 stores across the US and Canada and comprises 154 independent local nonprofit organisations in the US – is seemingly the perfect driver for such a feat. “No other nonprofit is doing what we are doing in this space because no other profit has the scale that we do,” Preston said. “Smaller nonprofits, like Accelerating Circularity [which also supported GII’s prior study, ed.], are working to tackle this at scale by connecting all stakeholders needed to power a successful textile-to-textile recycling ecosystem.”

Efforts come as recycling technology finally catches up to demand, scale-wise, as seen in the global expansion of recycling plants across the world that are increasingly able to handle bigger and bigger volumes. Despite this, reuse remains at the height of priorities. “The Goodwill network’s role is not only to provide feedstock to recyclers, but importantly to ensure that all textiles go to their highest and best use. Reuse remains a higher priority than recycling because it is less energy intensive. In general, the best thing you can do is to keep an item in use for as long as possible,” Preston explained.

“Reuse remains a higher priority than recycling because it is less energy intensive,”

The timing of this latest project also falls perfectly in line with the aforementioned incoming of global regulation, which could result in the complete transformation of the textile industry as we know it. While Europe is making its own changes in the way of Digital Product Passports and other related legislation, to which Preston said GII was paying close attention, the US has also seen similar advancements both on state, federal and local levels. Preston believes that the region can learn from other countries that have already begun to implement related legislation in order to further incentivise recycling.

“As the Goodwill network works to develop scalable solutions that are traceable and circular, it is imperative for us to be a part of the conversations shaping the next generation of environmental policy,” Preston said. “GII and our local Goodwill organisations stand ready to partner with federal, state and local governments as they work to address textile waste and other materials and promote the circular economy.”

Local Goodwill subsidiaries have already been at the table for the California Bill as it moves through the legislative process, for example. The bill would involve the launch of a state Fabric Recycling Pilot Project, studying and reporting on the feasibility of recycling material. Similarly, regional Goodwill organisations were also on hand to inform on the Massachusetts Textile Waste Ban, which has now been implemented with the missing of reducing the statewide disposal of textile waste by 30 percent by 2030. Preston added: “Nonprofits need to continue to be involved in discussions as a key stakeholder early on. Local Goodwill organisations are in a unique position as a retailer, collection site, workforce developer, and potential sorter and can play a variety of roles in these initiatives.”

For now, GII and Preston have turned their attention to the launch of the latest secondhand textile project, which is currently in very early stages with more details yet to come in the following months. Preston concluded: “We believe there needs to be greater transparency and visibility in the global exchange of secondhand textiles. It furthers our goal of finding the highest and best use for donated goods. There are many players in the resale space. We hope to engage many of them in the textile circularity ecosystem on this traceability pilot.”