Where do your garments go? Here’s how we collect used textiles from retailers and municipalities around the world— where they go next, with the goal of extending their useful life.

Our Approach

1. Our first step is to evaluate whether an item can be reused based on its condition, style, and material.

At this pre-sorting stage, garments are classified into 30 general categories—for example, jackets, T-shirts, jeans, items for recycling, or disposal.

2. We follow the EU Waste Hierarchy

Each item is assessed individually based on condition and then placed in the most environmentally beneficial next use category following the EU Waste Hierarchy, which states that reusing should be prioritized before recycling.

3. Finer Sorting…

Piece by piece, we sort into more than 300 specific categories to maximize the likelihood of each textile reaching a suitable end state based on its conditions and characteristics.

4. Reuse. Recycling. Responsible Disposal

Garments continue their life cycle in new markets. Textiles in good condition are carefully sorted for second-hand use and sold to reuse businesses across the globe, wherever there is demand.

Items not suitable for reuse are sorted and prepared for recycling. While a small share is sent to partners for textile-to-textile recycling, the majority is redirected into other applications—such as textile wipes, insulation, or automotive stuffing.

When reuse or recycling is not possible—due to contamination or severe damage, textiles are disposed of responsibly in established waste facilities, prioritizing incineration for energy recovery where possible.

5. Tracking Textiles for Visibility

While there is currently no feasible solution to track tens of millions of garments piece by piece to the customer who ultimately wears them, we track our sales flows on an aggregated basis. This allows us to gain insight into first-tier sales, where tracking is currently possible, and to understand which categories of garments align best with different end customers.

We invest time in connecting personally with second-hand businesses who buy sorted textiles. To better understand where our textiles go and how they are used, we conduct a series of on-the-ground “deep dives” in key markets, including Italy, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Togo, Romania, India, Ghana, Chile, and the United States.

These “deep dives” provide the opportunity to collaborate with local stakeholders, and to identify challenges & opportunities around improving garment end state and visibility.

Learn more about our actions on flow visibility

6. Driving Responsible Solutions Beyond Compliance

Strong legislation on waste handling and producer responsibility is essential for driving real change across the industry. That’s why we actively collaborate with policy advocates and like-minded partners to push progress forward, together.

In our reuse and recycling streams, we commit to best practices that go further than compliance. Guided by the EU Waste Hierarchy, we also ensure alignment with EPR, ESPR, and all other relevant legislation.

See industry partners we colloborate with

7. Operational Excellence + Optimal Brand Protection

We are building infrastructure to enable circular textiles.

Our designed reverse logistics network maximizes collection and sorting efficiency at scale. At our Polch, DE, facility, we use near-infrared (NIR) technology and optical sensors to identify textile composition quickly and accurately for us to prepare feedstock in line with textile-to-textile recyclers specifications.

In our “Leftovers” business stream, we only sell through secure retail channels in brand-approved countries, and manage secure recycling or responsible disposal for specific licensed or branded goods.

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