There comes a time in every piece of clothing’s life when it simply can’t be repaired one more time. For example, when a plaid button-up is so threadbare the fabric tears as fast as you can patch it or when you’ve darned a sock so many times it’s more embroidery thread than original material. (We have personal experience with both.) And while you can often sell or donate gently used gear to fellow outdoorists who don’t mind that it’s not in like-new condition, when an item is fully worn out or beyond repair (even professionally), the trash isn’t the only option: you can recycle old clothing!
Yup, lots of clothing and gear can be recycled or repurposed (even though clothing recycling is still a tricky business). But you can’t just toss it in your curbside recycle bin. What you CAN do is send clothing to these fine companies who may turn it into anything from new shoes to vehicle insulation. So if you’re wondering how to recycle undonatable clothing, check out these options.
Rainy Pass Pass Repair Pass Down Program
When you send in outerwear and clothing, they disassemble and sort the materials, remove non-recyclable trimmings like zippers, and send fabrics to their partner Material Return where the fabric is broken down and repurposed into a new raw material.
They accept clothing and jackets, including waterproof breathable materials, even fishing waders. Rainy Pass will disassembles each item, trim and sort materials, and send fabric to Material Return to be repurposed into dog bedding or automotive insulation (for example).There’s a flat fee of $6 per item, which covers processing and recycling.
Green Guru
Have bike tubes, wetsuits or climbing ropes in disrepair and collecting dust? Mail them into Green Guru, a brand that offers repurposed and upcycled bike gear (and more). They will upcycle materials if they can, turning them into bike bags, hip packs, zipper pouches, and all manner of other bike-related paraphernalia.
Email the team and send a picture of your materials before you send them in and Green Guru will let you know if they can take them. Bike tubes should be in good shape and not contain any slime. You are responsible for shipping costs but there are no other fees involved.
For Days
Need to recycle a variety of items? Anything from clothing, shoes, bags, accessories, swimwear and linens? Purchase a Take Back Bag from For Days for $20 and fill it with any shoes and clothing that fit in the bag. You’ll get a 30 point Trashie Cashie credit as a reward, which can add up and be used to buy gift cards from Trashie.io for all sorts of retailers.
Nike Recycling + Donation
Bring in Nike athletic gear to a participating Nike store and they’ll inspect it, then either donate it if it’s in good enough shape or recycle it if it’s not. Footwear gets ground up and separated by material type so that it can be incorporated into new items. Apparel (yes, you can recycle polyester clothing) gets sent to partner recyclers.
They only take Nike shoes and apparel (and no shoes with metal spikes), but if you have some stuff from the brand it’s an option. You can donate at drop box locations in-person or mail items in for recycling. Find out more about what recycled materials are used for here.
Smartwool Second Cut Project Take Back Mail-In Bag
Smartwool also partners with Material Return to collect and deconstruct socks and turn them into new goods. Send in your unwanted (but clean) socks from any brand or material and they’ll be recycled. Simply add a Second Cut bag to your cart at checkout. The recycling bag includes a pre-paid shipping label so all you have to do is gather your unwanted socks, attach the label, and drop it off.
The bag is free, but you’ll pay for shipping if it’s the only thing in your cart. Order one here.
Terracycle
If you have a variety of items that need recycled, you can purchase a box from Terracycle. They’re not cheap (around $150), but you choose one for shoes or clothing, Terracycle will ship you an empty box, you fill it up, and when you send the box back in they’ll make sure everything gets sorted and recycled appropriately. Order a box here.
Ridwell
Ridwell makes fabric recycling easy. The mail-in recycling program (regular pick-up subscriptions are also available) doesn’t just take plastics and batteries; you can send clothing in for recycling, too. Just order a bag, fill it with too-worn-to-donate clothing, and they’ll send it to partners to get shredded and transformed into fiber-based insulation.
It’s $30 for a starter bag kit and as low as $12 for every bag after that. Each one fits a handful of clothing items or shoes. Find out more here.
Outdoor Brands
There are several outdoor brands that make and take back recyclable gear that was designed from the ground up for circularity. Nemo is one of them. Their Endless Promise collection of packs and sleeping bags is designed to be recycled at the end of products’ usable lives and Nemo offers instructions on how to send this gear back to them when you’ve worn it out past the point of repairability.
Houdini Sportswear is similar. Much of their clothing and outerwear is designed to be circular and you can deposit the brand’s clothing in recycling boxes at their stores and some retailers that carry their clothing (which, granted, are limited in the U.S.).
So check and see if a brand you love offers a send-back program for old clothing and gear. And read more about what circularity means here.
Bottom Line
Worn out clothing doesn’t have to be destined for a landfill. While textile recycling is still in its early days, doing so is possible and fabric can be turned into stuffing, insulation and so much more. So if you’re searching for how to recycle clothes, check out one of these companies that recycle clothing. Think of any related fees as an investment in the environment and let yourself feel all warm and fuzzy about that. And since this is hardly an exhaustive list, feel free to comment with anywhere you know of that recycles fabric! Then get outside and wander on.
