The statistics surrounding textile recycling are enough to make anyone with a conscience cringe: Americans toss over 80 pounds of used clothing each year, and 60 percent of clothing ends up in incinerators or landfills within a year.

What’s more, recycling of textiles is virtually non-existent, with less than 1 percent of existing textiles going back into textiles. Given that the total number of garments the average consumer purchased each year increased by 60 percent from 2000 to 2014, a lot clearly needs to change.

In Sourcing Journal’s “Closing the Loop” webinar, Cyndi Rhoades, CEO/founder of Worn Again Technologies and MeiLin Wan, VP, textile sales at Applied DNA, discuss the challenges and solutions of textile recycling, including how companies can buy, sell and design with circularity in mind.

Listen to “Closing to Loop” as we explore:

• Just why textile and garment-to-garment recycling is so difficult
• The differences between mechanical and chemical recycling
• How to design with recycling in mind
• The importance of traceability and the tools that can be used
• Solutions for recycling blended fibers
• The advances of designing with recycled PET
• The areas most in need of consumer education—and the best ways to teach them
• Where cost plays into all of this

Speakers:

• MeiLin Wan, VP, textile sales, Applied DNA
• Cyndi Rhoades, CEO/founder, Worn Again Technologies
• Caletha Crawford, publisher, Sourcing Journal (moderator)