A new report from the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) examines textile circularity and what policies need to be implemented to accelerate the circular economy in the U.S. The agency aims to illustrate how developing a circular economy for textiles could create new jobs and other economic benefits, in addition to reducing waste.
Building on previous work in this arena conducted in 2024, GAO reviewed legislation, regulations, federal agency documents and academic reports related to textile circularity in the U.S. The agency also interviewed stakeholders, including government entities (international, federal and state), industry members, academia and nonprofit organizations that have or could possibly play a role in advancing the textile circular economy. GAO also visited Oregon, Washington, France and the Netherlands to meet with private sector representatives involved in efforts to develop the textile circular economy in those regions.
“The textile industry is part of a massive, global economic sector—including fiber sourcing, yarn production, and textile manufacturing,” the agency said in the report. “Textiles include apparel and other products, such as carpets, footwear, and towels. In response to global increases in the amount of textile consumption and waste, certain U.S. states and other countries have begun to consider and implement policies that can help develop a textile circular economy.”
The report identified potential benefits for textile circularity, such as creating jobs and markets related to textile repair and recycling, along with reducing harmful environmental impacts. But despite those potential benefits, GAO said many challenges stand in the way of a fully circular economy, most notably limited infrastructure for nationwide textile collection, sorting and recycling. GAO said that while fairly robust infrastructure for other types of recycling—such as PET and paper—exists, those facilities likely cannot also process textiles due to potential contamination issues. Textile recycling also presents challenges due to other factors, such as material blends and finishes such as dyes, zippers and other details added to the fabric.
The report also noted that insufficient demand for recycled textiles presents an additional challenge, since recyclers aren’t likely to scale their efforts without a market for the recycled product. GAO also identified other challenges, such as a lack of data collection to support circularity and a lack of terminology standards for key aspects of a textile circular economy, citing the ambiguity of terms such as “reuse” and “downcycling.”
GAO identified several policy suggestions that could help overcome these obstacles and accelerate circularity efforts in the textile sector. The first would be developing a textile extended producer responsibility program similar to those being implemented in several states regarding packaging. Those initiatives require producers to pay to ensure their packaging and other waste is recycled rather than going to a landfill at the end of its lifecycle. California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington currently or will have laws mandating this for packaging. The European Union also has EPR requirements for textiles that are slated to go into law next year.
To offset some of this expenditure, GAO suggested creating tax credits related to textile circularity, benefiting businesses when they contribute to textile circularity efforts such as reusing textiles or reducing textile waste.
GAO reported that many industry stakeholders they interviewed said they would prefer a federal approach to textile circularity policy, which they believe will streamline coordination, compliance and consistent implementation across the U.S. But GAO noted that this type of effort “would require additional federal coordination and resources and depend on the government’s legal authority to implement a federal approach.”
“To develop a textile circular economy in the U.S., multiple stakeholders would need to be involved,” the report said. “These stakeholders may include policymakers (e.g., Congress and state legislatures); producers (e.g., manufacturing and apparel businesses); textile collectors and recyclers; and consumers. Additionally, nongovernmental organizations may work with these entities and consumers to recommend policy options and standards, influence consumer behavior, and build the systems to make the economy function.”