Thrift stores act as a frontline barrier against textile waste, and shifting consumer perspectives on thrifting and resale could help refine recycling systems and pull more material away from landfills in the years ahead, according to panelists at a Northeast Recycling Council material reuse forum webinar held on Tuesday. Executives from thrift stores and researchers from the National Institute for Standards and Technology pointed out that secondhand clothing holds a strong position in U.S. textile export markets, which in turn shapes how and when textiles reach recycling streams. A rising enthusiasm for thrifting, upcycling, and clothing repair could extend the useful life of garments, and when textiles become too worn for wear, emerging sorting technologies could more efficiently handle end-of-life textiles to improve end markets, they noted. Thrift Stores: Making Landfill Diversion Attractive Thrifting is not a novel idea, but Americans have grown increasingly open to it in recent years due to a mix of rising costs, tariff worries, and economic instability, along with lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people had extra time to sort through their closets for items to donate, said Giana Manganaro Cronin, associate director of retail for More Than Words, a nonprofit youth job training program based in the Boston area. More Than Words leverages its thrift stores as a primary means to deliver job training and secure stable employment for participating youth, she explained. The organization previously sold used books, but a surge in interest in secondhand shopping triggered by the pandemic led the nonprofit to adopt a thrift store model instead. This shift was not only vital for the environment and for keeping more items out of landfills, but also beneficial for the business and the young people involved, she said. The nonprofit's thrift stores, known as Boomerangs, achieve a 98% margin compared to the previous 62% margin from its retail bookstore model, and Manganaro Cronin anticipates this trend will persist. Gen Z shoppers are driving this movement, partly because minimizing their environmental impact is a fundamental value for that group, she noted. About 64% of shoppers in that age bracket explore resale options before purchasing new items, she added. Young consumers are expected to keep shaping this trend, said Uli Stosch, chief officer of strategic development for Planet Aid, a thrift store nonprofit that has gathered and reused over 2 billion pounds of clothing since its founding in 1997. Drawing on data from an annual resale report by online thrift company ThredUp, she noted that the U.S. secondhand apparel market expanded by 14% in 2024 and is projected to hit $74 billion by 2029. Labor-Intensive Export and Recycling Markets More Than Words and similar thrift stores strive to sell as many items as possible, but for unsellable goods, the organization frequently collaborates with secondary buyers such as wholesalers who have access to a wide array of additional secondhand markets, Manganaro Cronin said. Stosch noted that thrift stores and other secondhand retailers typically sell between 10% and 50% of their inventory, with a minor portion ending up in the trash, mainly soiled items unsuitable for wearing or use. Another share is categorized as mixed rags and baled for export, where it undergoes further sorting for reuse, resale, or recycling. Many of these bales are sent to Pakistan and Malaysia, where workers are trained to manually sort each piece to separate quality clothing for resale while diverting lower-quality textiles for other uses. Stosch described this process as extremely labor-intensive, requiring long hours of standing and sorting through items, and noted that there is a cap on how much textiles can be handled this way due to the time involved. From there, many clothes intended for resale are shipped to countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Central America. Over 1.5 billion people globally depend on secondhand clothing, she said, particularly as an alternative to low-quality fast fashion brands. Guatemala has a notably strong secondhand import market, she added. A 2025 study by Full Cycle Resource found that the country imported 290 million pounds of clothing in 2023 and reused more than 91% of it, with women-owned clothing stores accounting for over half of the industry. Complex Streams, Complex Recycling Options When clothing or textiles are too worn or unfit for further wear and have already been downgraded to rags or industrial cloth, recycling becomes one of the next best options. This is where a fresh set of difficulties emerges, said Katarina Goodge, a materials research engineer at NIST. Textiles represent a complex and challenging waste stream to sort, partly because no established standards exist for handling these materials today, she said. Establishing standards would help boost efficiency in this system, she added. Another issue is that textile sorting is predominantly done manually, unlike other recycled materials that can be quickly sorted using various AI-enabled robotic sorting technologies, Goodge noted. One reason manual sorting remains standard is the difficulty in determining a garment's exact composition. Goodge explained that knowing the fiber content is essential to know how to recycle a garment, but the tag inside might only state it is made of 95% rayon and 5% other, or an itchy tag might be completely removed. She emphasized the need for a more systematic and technological approach, and noted that technology is advancing. Handheld near-infrared devices can reveal a garment's material composition, and when combined with AI or machine learning models, identifying fiber contents can become faster and more efficient. A handheld NIR scanner could be used alongside manual sorting to direct garments into appropriate bins, Goodge said, and larger-scale systems might identify textiles while on a conveyor belt, with a robotic arm component to pick out specific items. In the U.S., textile recycling infrastructure is less common than curbside recycling systems, though some companies have invested in such technology in recent years. A Future of Reuse, Repair, and Policy Change Legislation could drive changes in textile recycling efforts in the years ahead, the speakers said. California's extended producer responsibility for textiles law is being implemented, which will encourage more outlets for clothing donation, repair, and recycling, Stosch said. Countries in the EU are also required to implement similar textile EPR programs. Meanwhile, disposal bans in states like Massachusetts have led both thrift stores and lawmakers to consider what to do with textiles that are not suitable for resale but could be recycled into other products, Stosch said. Most thrift stores will accept apparel that is torn or missing buttons, as long as it is clean, she noted, adding that if it is clean, it can be turned into something else. There is also potential for creative ways to reuse or repair clothing before it reaches a recycling center, speakers added. For instance, community repair events are effective for teaching basic sewing skills and inspiring people to create something new from old apparel, Goodge said. She noted that the U.S. once had some infrastructure for repair, but that has largely disappeared because it is difficult to keep economically viable, yet repair efforts have significant potential to keep many garments as garments. P Read on IndexBox.

The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC), Brattleboro, Vermont, recently released its “ Northeast Flow of Glass Report ,” a regional analysis looking at glass container generation, collection, recycling, disposal, policies and end markets across the 11 states in the 11 Northeast states. The report was developed by NERC’s Glass Committee with support from state agencies, industry partners and stakeholders across the region and builds on the organization’s previous research into glass recovery, processing and end markets. NERC says it is meant to provide a comprehensive snapshot of how glass moves through the Northeast materials management system and highlights opportunities to strengthen glass recycling through policy, infrastructure investment and market development. According to NERC , key findings in the report include: Vermont (79.9 percent) and Connecticut (77 percent)—two states that operate deposit return systems (DRS)—recycled the highest share of glass containers relative to total glass container scrap generated. Connecticut led the region in per capita glass collection at 65.8 pounds per resident. New York collected the greatest total tonnage of glass containers for recycling at 281,065 tons annually, followed by New Jersey with approximately 197,000 tons. Five states in the region operate DRS programs that include glass beverage containers. All Northeast states provide residents with access to curbside and/or drop-off recycling programs. Reporting methodologies vary significantly among states, affecting direct comparisons of recycling performance. Recycled glass supports multiple end markets, including new containers, fiberglass, concrete applications and aggregate products. “Glass is one of the few packaging materials that can be recycled repeatedly with minimal loss of quality,” says NERC Executive Director Megan Schulz-Fontes. “The data show that strong collection systems and supportive policies can significantly increase glass recovery and create valuable feedstock for manufacturers.” NERC says its findings demonstrate that opportunities exist across the region to increase glass recovery through improved collection systems, stronger processing infrastructure and continued end market development. It also claims its analysis reveals “substantial variation” in state reporting methodologies, recycling requirements and collection systems. Per the report, while all Northeast states provide residents with access to curbside and/or drop-off programs, collection models differ considerably. Five states operate DRS programs, several off source-separated glass drop-off programs and Pennsylvania is the only state identified as providing source-separated curbside glass collection in select communities. NERC says these differences present challenges when comparing data across states and highlight the need for continued efforts to improve reporting consistency and transparency. The report notes that recycled glass serves a growing number of end markets, including new glass containers, fiberglass insulation, pozzolan for concrete, foam glass aggregate and other construction applications. “Many of these markets require high-quality glass cullet with low contamination levels, making effective collection and processing systems essential,” NERC writes. Although glass is heavier than many alternative packaging materials and can be more transportation-intensive when moved long distances, NERC reports that increasing local and regional collection, cleaning and processing capacity can improve environmental outcomes. The organization says recycled glass can help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with manufacturing by replacing virgin materials and supporting a more circular economy. NERC says its findings suggest that strategic investments in collection systems, processing infrastructure and end market development could increase glass recovery rates throughout the Northeast while supporting resource conservation, economic development and reductions in GHG emissions. Read on Recycling Today .